House Freedom Caucus drops two members in one night
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
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.
