Trump Goes After Freedom Caucus Ringleaders
By RACHAEL BADE and NOLAN D. MCCASKILL
3/30/17 08:48 PM EDT
For years, the House Freedom Caucus has pushed around House Republican leaders, even driving a speaker out of office. But now they’ve messed with the president of the United States, and Donald Trump is coming at them in full force.
Trump on Thursday evening turned his Twitter firepower on the ringleaders of the conservative group that helped tank the House GOP Obamacare replacement — a direct assault that could undermine the group’s influence going forward.
While Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), Vice Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and group member Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) have long been the darlings of the far-right, Trump's offensive could hurt them in their home districts, where he's extremely popular.
Trump's Thursday tweetstorm against the group marks an escalation in the face-off between the White House and conservative purists. Trump previously tried to offer the Freedom Caucus concessions on health care, but the group rejected his carrot approach. Now, he's reached for the stick.
His message also come as stories of White House primary threats against Freedom Caucus members are starting to trickle out. Freedom Caucus member Mark Sanford said Trump asked Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, a founding caucus member and fellow South Carolina Republican, to threaten him politically.
“The president asked me to look you square in the eyes and to say that he hoped that you voted ‘no’ on this bill so he could run (a primary challenger) against you in 2018,” Sanford said Mulvaney told him, according to The Post and Courier.
Before last Friday's health care debacle, Trump had at least some relationship with two of the members he called out by name Thursday. Meadows campaigned with Trump in the Tar Heel State. Trump considered Labrador for Interior secretary.
Labrador tried to remind Trump earlier Thursday of Freedom Caucus support he received during the 2016 campaign.
"Freedom Caucus stood with u when others ran," he tweeted. "Remember who your real friends are. We're trying to help u succeed."
Labrador's comments were a direct reaction to a Trump tweet earlier on Thursday morning in which the president claimed the conservative bloc “will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don’t get on the team, & fast.”
“We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018!” Trump said, hinting that he may support primary challenges to HFC members next election cycle and run them out of office.
President Donald Trump tweeted that "we must fight" the Freedom Caucus a group of conservative Republican lawmakers who helped sink health care reform.
The trio has not responded to a request for comment. But the group's spokeswoman Alyssa Farah retweeted Trump's post and said the three members were "en route back to their districts to serve their constituents."
Farah in recent days has emphasized that moderates also sank Speaker Paul Ryan's Obamacare replacement bill, arguing that conservatives alone are not to blame. Jordan has sounded like a broken record the entire week, repeating over and over again that Ryan's bill doesn't repeal Obamacare at all, as Republicans told voters they would.
Trump has reacted to the group's opposition with a heavier hand than they're used to. In the past, when Freedom Caucus members have tanked GOP bills they felt weren't conservative enough, constituents applauded them back home.
Now, however, they're taking on the head of the Republican Party with an extraordinary bully pulpit — not just the leaders of an unpopular Congress, so the consequences are uncertain.
Trump’s decision to single out these three lawmakers in particular shows he’s well aware of the dynamics of the group.
Jordan and Labrador, multiple group sources said, rallied some Freedom Caucus members when they started wobbling in their opposition to the Obamacare replacement. Meadows had a harder time with the matter, but ultimately stuck with the group.
Since the bill was pulled last week, some Freedom Caucus members have wondered aloud whether they did the right thing. But others defiantly argue they were right on principle, even if it means taking on man in the Oval Office.
Trump's tweet singling out caucus members followed one in which he shared an op-ed from Colorado Rep. Ken Buck, a Freedom Caucus member who wrote in The Hill that Trump has earned conservatives’ support and party leaders deserve their faith.
“In fact, we have to trust the president and party leaders, because the law requires a meandering path through Senate rules and administrative action before we can arrive at a better system,” Buck wrote.
“Great op-ed from @RepKenBuck,” Trump tweeted. “Looks like some in the Freedom Caucus are helping me end #Obamacare.”
3/30/17 08:48 PM EDT
For years, the House Freedom Caucus has pushed around House Republican leaders, even driving a speaker out of office. But now they’ve messed with the president of the United States, and Donald Trump is coming at them in full force.
Trump on Thursday evening turned his Twitter firepower on the ringleaders of the conservative group that helped tank the House GOP Obamacare replacement — a direct assault that could undermine the group’s influence going forward.
While Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), Vice Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and group member Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) have long been the darlings of the far-right, Trump's offensive could hurt them in their home districts, where he's extremely popular.
Trump's Thursday tweetstorm against the group marks an escalation in the face-off between the White House and conservative purists. Trump previously tried to offer the Freedom Caucus concessions on health care, but the group rejected his carrot approach. Now, he's reached for the stick.
His message also come as stories of White House primary threats against Freedom Caucus members are starting to trickle out. Freedom Caucus member Mark Sanford said Trump asked Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, a founding caucus member and fellow South Carolina Republican, to threaten him politically.
“The president asked me to look you square in the eyes and to say that he hoped that you voted ‘no’ on this bill so he could run (a primary challenger) against you in 2018,” Sanford said Mulvaney told him, according to The Post and Courier.
Before last Friday's health care debacle, Trump had at least some relationship with two of the members he called out by name Thursday. Meadows campaigned with Trump in the Tar Heel State. Trump considered Labrador for Interior secretary.
Labrador tried to remind Trump earlier Thursday of Freedom Caucus support he received during the 2016 campaign.
"Freedom Caucus stood with u when others ran," he tweeted. "Remember who your real friends are. We're trying to help u succeed."
Labrador's comments were a direct reaction to a Trump tweet earlier on Thursday morning in which the president claimed the conservative bloc “will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don’t get on the team, & fast.”
“We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018!” Trump said, hinting that he may support primary challenges to HFC members next election cycle and run them out of office.
President Donald Trump tweeted that "we must fight" the Freedom Caucus a group of conservative Republican lawmakers who helped sink health care reform.
The trio has not responded to a request for comment. But the group's spokeswoman Alyssa Farah retweeted Trump's post and said the three members were "en route back to their districts to serve their constituents."
Farah in recent days has emphasized that moderates also sank Speaker Paul Ryan's Obamacare replacement bill, arguing that conservatives alone are not to blame. Jordan has sounded like a broken record the entire week, repeating over and over again that Ryan's bill doesn't repeal Obamacare at all, as Republicans told voters they would.
Trump has reacted to the group's opposition with a heavier hand than they're used to. In the past, when Freedom Caucus members have tanked GOP bills they felt weren't conservative enough, constituents applauded them back home.
Now, however, they're taking on the head of the Republican Party with an extraordinary bully pulpit — not just the leaders of an unpopular Congress, so the consequences are uncertain.
Trump’s decision to single out these three lawmakers in particular shows he’s well aware of the dynamics of the group.
Jordan and Labrador, multiple group sources said, rallied some Freedom Caucus members when they started wobbling in their opposition to the Obamacare replacement. Meadows had a harder time with the matter, but ultimately stuck with the group.
Since the bill was pulled last week, some Freedom Caucus members have wondered aloud whether they did the right thing. But others defiantly argue they were right on principle, even if it means taking on man in the Oval Office.
Trump's tweet singling out caucus members followed one in which he shared an op-ed from Colorado Rep. Ken Buck, a Freedom Caucus member who wrote in The Hill that Trump has earned conservatives’ support and party leaders deserve their faith.
“In fact, we have to trust the president and party leaders, because the law requires a meandering path through Senate rules and administrative action before we can arrive at a better system,” Buck wrote.
“Great op-ed from @RepKenBuck,” Trump tweeted. “Looks like some in the Freedom Caucus are helping me end #Obamacare.”
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