FREEDOM CAUCUS
1. Context
Republicans in the House of Representatives failed for a second straight day to elect a leader on Wednesday (January 4), as a faction of holdouts continued to not vote for Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). In a massive embarrassment for the GOP, this was the time since 1923 that a nominee of the majority party in the House wasn’t able to win the first vote for the position of Speaker.
2. The Freedom Caucus
- The Freedom Caucus is considered to be the most conservative, far-right caucus of the Republican Party in the US House of Representatives.
- The caucus has roughly 30 members (more than the number voting against McCarthy) and a long-term goal to drag the Republican Party – and indeed American politics – further to the right. It was formed in 2015 out of general frustration that certain lawmakers shared about the GOP establishment.
- It emerged from the Tea Party Movement, a fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009.
- Members of this movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget deficit through decreased government spending.
3. Ideological and political positions held by the Freedom Caucus
- In the past, the group has tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act multiple times – in general, it is in favour of budget cuts, lower taxes and decentralisation of government powers.
- The caucus also stands against immigration and has been called by many observers as “nativist”, “anti-globalist”, and “white supremacist.”
- In 2016, the Freedom Caucus put all its strength behind Donald Trump as he campaigned for a seemingly improbable victory in the Presidential elections.
- Nearly all of the lawmakers who voted against McCarthy made statements casting doubts on the 2020 election. Fourteen of the 15 incumbents who voted against McCarthy were among the 139 House Republicans who, on Jan. 6, 2021, voted to overturn the 2020 Electoral College results.
4. Why is the Freedom Caucus opposing Kevin McCarthy’s Speakership bid?
To be clear, not every member of the Freedom Caucus has opposed Kevin McCarthy.
Major names in the Freedom Caucus such as Jim Jordan and Marjorie Taylor Greene have voted for McCarthy. However, 19 of the 20 GOP members who have voted for other candidates (so far), are from the Freedom Caucus.
5. Disunity Among Republicans
This is not the first that the Freedom Caucus has disrupted the Speakership bids of GOP candidates. Back in 2015, Paul Ryan became Speaker when the Freedom Caucus made it clear that its members wouldn’t support Kevin McCarthy’s bid. This happened after The Freedom Caucus essentially forced the Republican speaker of the House, John Boehner, to resign in 2015 because its members felt “he wasn’t forceful enough against Obama”.
6. Disruptions
As the Republican establishment has stayed silent amidst the growing right-wing surge within the party, groups such as the Freedom Caucus have been more emboldened than ever. For many, they do not even represent cogent and coherent political positions. Rather, they ostensibly stand against the “establishment” – a term used by its members for any lawmaker who calls out their antics.
For Mains
| For Mains: 1. What is The Freedom Caucus and discuss the Ideological and political positions held by the Freedom Caucus. |
Source: The Indian Express
