How Trump caused the downfall of House GOP’s most conservative voting bloc

During Barack Obama's presidency, the House Freedom Caucus — a group closely identified with the right-wing Tea Party movement — did a lot to shake up the Republican Party, sometimes to the frustration of then-House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). Prominent Tea Party Republicans like Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Chip Roy (R-Texas) were major players in the Freedom Caucus. But according to NOTUS reporter Paul Kane, the once-powerful group is being "hollowed out" in a big way during Donald Trump's second presidency.

Roy, who angered Trump at times, lost a Texas GOP primary battle for state attorney general on Tuesday, May 26. And before that, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) — another favorite of the Tea Party and the Freedom Caucus who Trump was angry with — was voted out of office via a Republican congressional primary.

"Roy, the group's ideological soul on many policy matters, lost by a double-digit margin Tuesday in his bid for the GOP nomination to become Texas state attorney general," Kane explains in NOTUS. "He was defeated by a state senator who claimed Roy wasn't a real MAGA supporter. Roy is not the only one. Come January, almost the entire top rung of the Freedom Caucus will leave the House — a hollowing out of one of the most influential power centers of the past decade."

The NOTUS reporter continues, "Many are running for statewide office: Reps. Andy Biggs (Arizona governor), Harriet Hageman (Wyoming senator), Barry Moore (Alabama senator), Tom Tiffany (Wisconsin governor), Ralph Norman (South Carolina governor) and Byron Donalds (Florida governor). Most are underdogs at the moment, except for Donalds, Hageman and Moore. Another former caucus chair, Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry, is in a tossup race in November against an opponent who came within a point of toppling him in 2024."

During Obama's presidency, Freedom Caucus Republicans butted heads with establishment conservatives like Boehner — who felt they were imposing right-wing purity tests that hurt the GOP agenda. But more recently, Freedom Caucus lawmakers have been clashing with Trump and the MAGA movement.

"Some HFC members have made accommodations with Trump and his loose moorings to conservative policy, staying out of his crosshairs and winning endorsements," Kane observes. "Others — like Roy — tried to put up a fight on big issues like the massive domestic policy bill that passed last July. Freedom Caucus members prompted multiple marathon votes to protest the legislation. They got no real conservative wins with their protests and only drew the ire of Trump's inner circle."