Inside Steve Bannon's meeting with Mark Meadows
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Evan Vucci / AP
Steve Bannon met with Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows on Monday afternoon at the "Breitbart Embassy" — the Capitol Hill townhouse so-named because those who work at the right-wing website like to think of themselves as the ambassadors for "real America" in Washington, D.C.
Joining Bannon and Meadows at the dining table on the second floor of the townhouse was Breitbart's Washington editor Matt Boyle. The three men plotted for nearly two hours on the agenda for the month ahead, with an emphasis on the Breitbart-Freedom Caucus war against Republican leadership on multiple fronts.
- They discussed the Freedom Caucus's plans for taking on GOP leadership over the debt ceiling, tax reform, health care payments, the budget and the government funding bill.
- Expect them to demand payments for the wall and to combat leadership's plans to attach Hurricane Harvey aid to the debt ceiling increase.
A source familiar with the meeting told Axios: "This is bigger than Breitbart or the Freedom Caucus...The topics discussed included conservative alternatives to everything the anti-Trump Republican leadership has planned on every major policy matter facing the United States of America in September."
"Including," the source added, "Paul Ryan's and Mitch McConnell's demonstrated failure to govern, and how to effectively implement the Trump agenda moving forward."
Why this matters: Republican leadership already has a brutal month ahead, but the House Freedom Caucus — a collection of around 40 ultra conservative members — is going to fight them every step of the way.
