When it was first launched 10 years ago, the far-right House Freedom Caucus served as a powerful deterrent for any House Republicans who were considering moderation and compromise. But after the Freedom Caucus folded ahead of the vote on H.R. 1 (President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act"), some Republicans are publicly expressing their disdain for their fellow GOP colleagues.
Politico reported Thursday on the Freedom Caucus' waning sway over the House Republican Conference. Many Freedom Caucus members publicly disparaged the Republican-controlled Senate's version of the legislation and promised to vote against it.
That group included Reps. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Keith Self (R-Texas). But ultimately, they all voted in favor of the exact same bill they all raged against just days prior. Only two Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) — actually voted in opposition.
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“They called their own bluff,” Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) told Politico. “How many times have they done this? I mean, I’ve been in Congress for two years and five seconds, and they pulled the same stunt 19 times. So they’re over. The influence of the Freedom Caucus is over.”
Freedom Caucus chairman Andy Harris (R-Md.) said that he decided to vote for the bill after securing "significant agreements with the administration overnight on executive actions, both inside and outside of the bill, that will make America great again." And while Self said Wednesday night that the bill was "morally and fiscally bankrupt," he voted in favor after getting "fiscal" commitments from the White House.
Roy defended his reversal by saying that while he preferred steeper cuts to Medicaid, it was still a "pretty historic bill" and that there was hope for a second reconciliation bill from the Senate in the future. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) opined that Republicans have learned to not take the Freedom Caucus' brinksmanship seriously.
"They do this every time — every dadgum time," Burchett said of the Freedom Caucus.
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Click here to read Politico's report in its entirety.