House conservatives, riding the “tea party” wave, came to Washington beginning in 2010 not to cut deals or write legislation.
They came to make a point about government spending, especially when it comes to the bills that the House of Representatives pushes up the chain.
The faction for an impressive four-plus years has remained secretive in a town infamous for leaks, self-promotion and loose lips.
In fact, it can be difficult to impossible to locate a list of the group’s members.
That could be changing.
The tea party caucus made yet another ideological point with its tactics during a showdown with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Democrats over Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding and President Barack Obama’s recent immigration action. They made their point, and it’s likely some of their right-wing base and big-money funders believe the group won the latest skirmish with Boehner.
But Boehner, once again, won the battle when he allowed a measure that funds DHS through Sept. 30 to pass with 187 Democratic votes of the needed 217.
When it comes to point-making, the tea party faction is second to none on Capitol Hill. But there are signs the faction is realizing that to become a permanent force, it needs to win a few battles.
In January, the group’s leaders raised a new flag, branding their previously unnamed band of legislative members the “Freedom Caucus.” In perhaps the surest sign that the bureaucratic nature of Washington they so despise is rubbing off, the group even has weekly meetings.
More to the point, the group that shows no regard for the unwritten rules of Official Washington is studying those that are written down.
The DHS loss led Freedom Caucus member Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., to tell CQ the faction is “actually focusing a lot of our attention on parliamentary actions and learning as much as we can to try to find some obscure rules that will work in our favor next time.”
A de-facto Freedom Caucus leader even is beginning to emerge: Rep. Jim Jordan, who the Washington Post’s Sean Sullivan last week described as “a square-jawed former college wrestling champion who voted for Boehner but also received two votes of his own for the speaker’s job.”
The Freedom Caucus has shied away from public displays of mingling with Washington media-types.
But Jordan appeared on a Sunday morning political talk show, sitting for a March 1 interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” program.
Jordan and his colleagues are beginning to make noise about the coming 2016 budget resolution, making clear they will try to sink any plan that would, among other things, raise defense and domestic spending caps.
Boehner will want to pass the budget resolution to show the country Republicans can govern.
Though a long shot, defense hawks might convince Budget Committee leaders to provide the DoD at least some small sequestration relief.
When the budget resolution hits the floor, keep an eye on Jordan.
He’ll be the one studying the House rule book on behalf of the Freedom Caucus and using establish rules to buck the establishment itself.
Email: jbennett@defensenews.com
