If Rep. Dave Brat is right, the already cantankerous House Freedom Caucus is about to cause Speaker Paul Ryan even more trouble when the next Congress convenes.
The Virginia representative told the Washington Examiner that he’s confident Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, will step down as chairman of the group and Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C. will easily win the position.
“[Meadows] is another great conservative and a friend. He will do a super job,” Brat said Tuesday morning after The Hill broke the news that Meadows was exploring a bid. “I haven’t heard of any other candidates and so I think Meadows will likely win as of right now.”
The pair share a penchant for disruption in Congress.
A dark horse candidate in 2014, Brat defeated House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in a stunning out-of-nowhere primary election victory. A year later, Meadows spearheaded a successful effort to sack then Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.
The subsequent speaker scramble ended when Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., agreed to pick up the speaker’s gavel, but only after the Freedom Caucus and Meadows had been catapulted center stage.
If Meadows took the leadership position in the Freedom Caucus, it’d be a natural transition. The soft-spoken North Carolina representative has worked closely with Jordan during numerous policy fights. Most notably, the two successfully strong-armed House leadership into agreeing to hold impeachment hearings for IRS Commissioner John Koskinen.
And members of the Freedom Caucus wouldn’t be surprised if Jordan stepped down this year. “He’s the most humble leader ever,” Brat said, “and he’s always said that he’s not in the role as a permanent leader.”
Jordan has shepherded the Freedom Caucus from the beginning, developing it from a ragtag opposition group into one of the most influential factions in the House of Representatives. This year, the caucus was in large part responsible for spoiling Ryan’s effort to pass a budget.
More than a personnel change, if Jordan passes Meadows the torch, the new chairman would be much more likely to set things ablaze. Where Jordan has been reluctant to hit leadership publicly, Meadows has been more willing to go to the mat.
Last Friday, Meadows encouraged speculation about a second coup in the GOP conference when he told a North Carolina radio station that several members “question the loyalty of the Speaker.”
Next Congress, the Freedom Caucus will have plenty of opportunities to take shots at Ryan if he still holds the speaker’s gavel and Hillary Clinton is president. With Meadows at the helm, the group will likely take every opportunity to slam bipartisan compromises as a failure to fight.
A Meadow’s bid would also come as members of the Freedom Caucus are attempting a takeover of the Republican Study Committee, which had previously served as the conservatives’ main grouping in the House. Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., is running for chairman of that 176-member caucus.
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
