What is Freedom Caucus, the group of Republican lawmakers blocking McCarthy’s Speakership bid?

The Indian Express looks at the Freedom Caucus, the political positions it holds, who its members are, and why it has been opposed to Kevin McCarthy becoming the House Speaker.

The Freedom Caucus, the GOP’s far-right fringe

The Freedom Caucus is considered to be the most conservative, far-right caucus of the Republican Party in the US House of Representatives. According to the website of its Political Action Committee (PAC) called House Freedom Fund, it “supports candidates for Congress who are dedicated to open, accountable, and limited government.”

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. “That was the first time we got together and decided we were a group, and not just a bunch of pissed-off guys,” said founding member Mick Mulvaney.

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. The Freedom Caucus was a “smaller, more cohesive, more agile and more active” group of conservative representatives, according to its leader Jim Jordan.

But as the speaker election fiasco has shown, the term “fringe” may not truly reflect the power the caucus holds on the Republican Party. As political scientist Daniel Ziblatt wrote in Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracies, the Republican Party has become increasingly more accepting of “ferocious right-wing populist politics, which threatens to swallow older, self-identified conservative political parties.”

What are the ideological and political positions held by the Freedom Caucus?

While it will be incorrect to view the House Freedom Caucus as a monolith, by and large, its positions can be characterised as being fiscally conservative and right-wing populist. 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. In its unwavering loyalty to Trump the Freedom Caucus came to be described as “more populist and nationalist, but less bound by policy principles,” wrote Politico.

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. “Trump wants to turn Washington upside down – that was his first message and his winning message. We want the exact same thing,” said Mulvaney upon Trump’s election in 2016.

However, despite Donald Trump’s own closeness with Kevin McCarthy and his open support for him as the Speaker candidate, many in the Freedom Caucus have still refused to back him.

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. Dubbed the “Never Kevin” crew by US media, these far-right holdouts suggest the view that “McCarthy is too closely aligned with a broken system and will do little to change how Washington is governed”, said the BBC.

Andy Biggs, one of the prominent holdouts who has launched a longshot bid for Speakership himself, took to Twitter to say, “The American people want us to turn a page. They do not want excuses or performance art, they want action and results.” The holdouts have also sought to extract various concessions in exchange for their support, including promises to vote on bills that address congressional term limits and border security, and changes to the procedure by which to oust a sitting speaker.

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”, wrote The New York Times.

A spectacle of disruption

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. And they want to “burn it all down,” bringing radical change to how Washington works.

According to the New York Times, they want “more headlines, more airtime, more spectacle and … more power. They aren’t interested in governing, but rather in teasing the growing urge among the Republican base to throw a wrench in the gears.”