The “days are numbered” of the House Freedom Caucus, one conservative lawmaker predicted, as the ouster of Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene made the group’s problems fully visible.
On Thursday, Freedom Caucus member Rep. Andrew Harris told Politico that members of the caucus had voted to expel Greene after killing another member, Rep. Lauren Boebert, a “little bastard” on the House floor.
That reports CNN Monday about the deep tensions within the Freedom Caucus, which was launched in 2015 by Rep. Jim Jordan to move the House Republican leadership to the right.
Now about 40 members strong, the group has become unmanageable, with members split over how much to support House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and whether to officially support former President Donald Trump’s 2024 White House run.
“Days are numbered for the group anyway,” a conservative legislator told CNN. “Because they go in 100 different directions.”
The splintering of the House Freedom Caucus came out in the open after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (left) called Rep. Lauren Boebert (right) a “little bastard” on the House floor — and was subsequently kicked out of the Conservative group
Factions of the group are holding their own meetings to map out strategy, CNN reported.
A major problem is that two of the group’s most prominent members—Jordan and Greene—are believed by some to go against what the Freedom Caucus stands for by joining the House leadership.
Greene went to work for McCarthy during the January speaker fight.
And she antagonized some members of the Freedom Caucus for publicly calling them out when they wouldn’t get in line.
“The reality is they’re mad at her for playing with McCarthy and she’s still one of Trump’s favorites,” the conservative lawmaker told CNN. ‘It’s pretty obvious. That’s what happened.’
Greene has already supported Trump in the presidential race and recently appeared with him at a rally in South Carolina.
The Georgia lawmaker’s most recent spat with Boebert came after the Colorado Republican introduced an impeachment bill against President Joe Biden, rather than joining Greene on her impeachment bill.
Membership is divided over how cozy it is to hang out with Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, as the group began with the goal of moving the House Republican leadership further to the right
“I donated to you, I defended you. But you’ve been nothing but a little bastard to me,” Greene said to Boebert on the House floor, according to The Daily Beest. “And you copied my articles of impeachment after I asked you to co-sponsor them.”
If an impeachment inquiry got off the ground, it would be assigned to the Jordanian House Judiciary Committee.
Jordan has skillfully walked the line between the House Freedom Caucus — as a founding member and first chairman — and House Republican leaders, so much so that McCarthy appointed him chairman of the powerful House Judiciary Committee.
However, this has ruffled the feathers in Freedom Caucus members.
CNN reported that Virginia Representative Bob Good, a member of the Freedom Caucus, has behind his back called Jordan a “RINO” — an abbreviation of “Republican in Name Only” — a hostile term for those seen as too moderate for the party are considered.
Good’s spokesperson denied the claim.
But Greene and Jordan are two of the most high-profile members of the group and bring in a lot of money for the House Freedom Fund, which gives money to the caucus.
The conservative lawmaker told CNN that Greene is “bigger than the group,” adding that “no one has done more for the cause” than Jordan.
Still, members overwhelmingly voted to reject Greene, a source told the network.
While Harris chattered about the Politico vote, the House Freedom Caucus wouldn’t officially say Greene was evicted.
That’s because, according to CNN, Pennsylvania Chairman Scott Perry had wanted to meet Greene in person to share the news — but Congress was in recess on July 4, so he couldn’t reach her by phone.
When asked for comment, Greene’s office did not deny the reporting, but did not explicitly state it in the statement it sent.
“In Congress, I serve Northwest Georgia first, not any group in Washington,” Greene said in a statement to DailyMail.com.
“My America First credentials, guided by my Christian faith, are forged in steel, etched into my character and will never change,” Greene said. “I fight every day in the halls of Congress against the hate American Democrats who are trying to destroy this country.”
“The GOP has less than two years to show America what a strong, united Republican-led Congress will do if President Trump wins the White House in 2024,” she continued. “This is my focus, nothing else.”