You’ve probably heard by now that Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) has parted ways with the House Freedom Caucus, a group he helped create in 2015 to “give a voice to countless Americans who feel Washington doesn’t represent them.”
Amash made his decision because the Freedom Caucus apparently is no longer interested in giving a voice to Americans, particularly when those voices disagree with them concerning Donald Trump.
Amash had the unmitigated gall to say in a series of tweets last month that he actually read the Mueller Report and then concluded Trump had “engaged in impeachable conduct.” In response Jim Jordan, Mark Meadows, and the remaining Trumpservatives in the caucus joined a swarm of sycophants in Washington and the media to attach the Michigan congressman possessing a 90% (A) Liberty Score® at Conservative Review.
A few days after Amash’s tweets, Freedom Caucus membership held a semi-secret meeting to decide how best to deal with him and elected to condemn his remarks. Ironically, Freedom Caucus co-founder and first Chairman Jim Jordan defended the condemnation by recognizing Amash as a “leader” when it came to “protecting … First Amendment rights.”
I can appreciate Jordan’s position. After all, what better way to protect freedom and the First Amendment than to silence voices you disagree with, right?
I’m thrilled Amash had the courage to walk away from a group of so-called conservatives who have clearly lost their way.
During Trump’s first year in office, Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows helped Trump and Paul Ryan pass a massive $4 trillion budget in October 2017 because “it’s the only thing [he could] get through the GOP-led Senate.” A few months later, Meadows expressed fake outrage over the exploding budget deficit caused by the bill he supported.
In a failed attempt to prevent last year’s Blue Tsunami, Meadows officially abandoned any pretense of true conservatism and embraced Trumpservatism. At about the same time, Meadows also used the Freedom Caucus to advocate for a fix to DACA.
In the weeks leading up to the 2018 mid-terms, the House Freedom Fund — a PAC for the Freedom Caucus — solicited donations for Meadows and Jordan, not because of the conservative work they had done but because they had become “Trump’s pit-bulls on Capitol Hill.
Following the “leadership” elections for the new Congress earlier this year, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy punished Freedom Caucus members who voted against him. Despite this obvious Boehner-styled attack on conservatives, Meadows, fresh off his re-election as Freedom Caucus chair, formed an official alliance with Trump and the GOP in hopes it will help save the Republican Party.
The House Freedom Caucus was founded to fight GOP groupthink and to promote smaller government and the Constitution, but in the Age of Trump, these values no longer exist which is why they forced Amash to resign.
Amash’s decision reminds us of the importance of putting conservative principles over party politics. It also reminds us why we need a new party.
David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative.
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