The House Freedom Caucus has specific changes that it wants to see made in how Congress does business, Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C. told the Washington Examiner.
People want to see that “we stand with every mom and dad back at home … [and] one way we can show that is to have more legislation pass out of the House, get it through the Senate, and put it on the president’s desk,” Meadows said.
“The number one concern is that we work really hard to fulfill our campaign promises, and that we at least put bills on the president’s desk,” said Meadows, adding that people at home are troubled by the fact that President Obama has only had to veto a few bills, because Republicans cede on the issues first.
Freedom Caucus members that opposed Speaker John Boehner’s agenda were removed from committees, and now the 40-odd caucus members are looking for a different kind of leader to replace him.
Meadows said “the number one thing” Freedom Caucus members were most concerned about “is really about the rules” and a return to regular order in the House. This would allow “committees to do the job they’ve been elected to do and allow the rank and file to have legislative input,” said Meadows. It would also allow more amendments through the rules process and thus follow the will of the House, he added.
A return to regular order in the House would mean that “a few members of the Rules Committee” close to the speaker “cannot control the legislative agenda,” said Meadows.
The caucus members do not want the House to lurch from “crisis to crisis,” he said.
Specifically, they want to know where candidates stand on the budget caps, and if they are “willing to break those or not,” said Meadows. He said they do not want the new speaker to make “preemptive judgment calls on amendments.”
The Freedom Caucus decided late afternoon to support Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., in a GOP vote tomorrow to determine the speaker nominee. Webster needed to reach an 80 percent threshold to earn the support of the caucus.
Meadows said the caucus could rally around Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., if he would allow committees to have their way, but “the real issue is trying to put those things in place prior to a floor vote on Oct. 29th, he said, referring to the date when members will vote on the floor for speaker.
Having conference rules that are abided by, where a violation of the rules would give a member redress, are a “key component” of what the caucus hopes to see, said Meadows.
“It’s still a fluid decision as we have conference decisions tomorrow,” said Meadows.
