‘I don’t think anybody takes them seriously’: The House Freedom caucus is developing a reputation for folding
CNN
Crowded around a white board Monday night, members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus plotted over burgers their next big battle.
Crowded around a white board Monday night, members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus plotted over burgers their next big battle. They’d press to claw back more federal funding in line with the Department of Government Efficiency’s cuts, maybe even draft up a deficit shrinking sequel to Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” said GOP Rep. Keith Self, who was among those in attendance. But the optimism in the group’s first meeting since Trump’s agenda bill passed belied a grimmer outlook. They ultimately backed that legislation after expressing serious misgivings in public, and many in the GOP now view them as likely to put on a show over red lines – then cave, if that’s what the president wants. “This happens all the time,” Ohio Republican Rep. Max Miller told CNN. “They will take you to the nth degree. They will make everyone uncomfortable, making it appear as if they’re fighting for something that they will never end up accomplishing, but yet saying that they’ve accomplished it. And they haven’t.” House Freedom Caucus members argue their objections to – and eventual reversals on – Trump’s sweeping tax and spending cuts bill were just part of the process: they push legislation to comport with their ultra-conservative worldview, compromising on some points but not others as they look to what lies ahead. But their strategy of going public with concerns, only to set them aside under pressure, has affected how some in the party say they’ll approach negotiations with the group in the future. Their power as a voting bloc, some members say, is waning as Republicans attempt to navigate their razor-thin majorities through a government funding fight and push to slash more federal spending.
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