A House political outsider is now an insider.
Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan., whose brand of conservatism put him at odds with he leadership and got him kicked off key panels, is now a member of the powerful House Steering Committee.
Republicans elected Huelskamp to join the committee on Thursday, his office announced. He will fill one of six at-large positions on the committee, which helps decide who will serve as committee chairs.
“With these changes to the influential Steering Committee, my colleagues have sent a strong message that they’re listening to the conservative heart of the party,” Huelskamp said.
Huelskamp’s rise comes after years of serving on the outskirts of the House GOP. Huelskamp is a member of the most conservative flank of the House Republican Conference and has often clashed with leadership, voting against key bills and trying to unseat then-House Speaker John Boehner.
GOP leaders in 2012 stripped Huelskamp of his seats on the Agriculture and Budget Committees.
Boehner’s successor, Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is trying to end the GOP infighting between conservatives and the rest of the conference, in part by giving conservatives a more powerful voice and more say in legislative and policy decisions.
As part of the restructuring, the Steering Committee membership changed so that committee chairman share one rotating seat, and are no longer individual members. The extra six seats were changed to at-large positions.
