The Freedom Caucus can now re-brand as the RINO Caucus. Politico reports:
Jim Jordan and other key
conservative firebrands have caused a fair share of House Speaker Kevin
McCarthy‘s biggest headaches. But instead of leading the rebellion this time,
they helped him quash it.
As the House Freedom Caucus was
preparing to discuss whether to officially oppose the speaker’s bipartisan debt
deal — a move that would potentially galvanize conservative opposition — Jordan
(R-Ohio) phoned several fellow members with a request, according to a person
familiar with the calls. The former chair of the group urged them to hold back,
effectively giving conservatives who wanted to vote with McCarthy license to do
so.
Jordan, a longtime McCarthy
antagonist turned ally, almost got his wish. The group took no official
position until hours before the vote, when most members had already made up
their minds.
The beloved House Freedom Caucus
co-founder — who gravitated toward McCarthy after the now-speaker tapped him
for a senior spot on the Oversight Committee — helped out in other ways. The
Ohio lawmaker spoke up in favor of the deal in private calls and meetings,
including taking the mic at a closed-door huddle on Tuesday night, just hours
after many of his fellow conservatives had spent the day trashing the deal.
This report concludes with this:
If most Republicans get on board,
it means threats against his speakership won’t gain real traction. And with
two-thirds of the GOP conference backing the deal Wednesday, it seemed to be
working.
“We didn’t do it by taking the easy
route,” McCarthy said in a celebratory post-vote press conference. “It wasn’t
an easy fight, I had people on both sides upset.”
But he added: “I think we did
pretty damn good for the American people.”
No debt ceiling. No
serious budget process. J D Rucker
considers this bill an existential threat.
His take is here.
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