House Freedom Caucus drops two members in one night
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Rep. Warren Davidson at the Capitol on Feb. 14, 2024. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images.
The right-wing House Freedom Caucus on Monday voted to kick out one of its members — and then immediately saw another resign in response.
Why it matters: Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) is at least the third lawmaker ejected from the Freedom Caucus in the last year for breaking with the group's leadership.
What we're hearing: The Freedom Caucus voted to kick out Davidson after he endorsed a primary challenger to Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), the caucus' chair, according to a lawmaker familiar with the matter.
- Good, who has rankled many colleagues with his persistent antagonism towards GOP leadership, was ousted by state Sen. John McGuire.
- Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) said in a statement that he had wanted to "encourage more members to join" the Freedom Caucus.
- "With tonight's vote, it was clear that is not their objective ... I will continue to support their conservative agenda, I just won't be a member," he said.
A spokesperson for the Freedom Caucus declined to comment on the vote, telling Axios: "HFC does not comment on membership or internal proceedings."
Between the lines: The Freedom Caucus has been clamping down on internal dissent within the 118th Congress.
- Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) was kicked out last summer after publicly feuding with fellow Freedom Caucus members over her support for then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
- Just days before he resigned from Congress in March, Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), who repeatedly criticized the GOP's investigations into President Biden, was kicked out for what one member said was "non-attendance."
Zoom out: The ousters reflects a broader schism within Congress' right flank.
- Some of former President Trump's most fervent supporters on Capitol Hill, like Greene and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), have found themselves increasingly alienated from Freedom Caucus leaders like Good.
- Good and several other members have landed on Trump's bad side for endorsing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the GOP presidential nomination.
