Mick Mulvaney Relishes Opportunity to Move This Group Further to the Right

Not that he always doesn’t, but Rep. Mick Mulvaney especially enjoyed coming to work last Wednesday.

Fresh off months of campaigning for the cause, Mulvaney, R-S.C., returned to Capitol Hill knowing that Republicans will assume control of the Senate and tighten their hold on the House of Representatives in January.

He also came confident in his campaign to become chairman of the House’s Republican Study Committee next year.

In an interview with The Daily Signal in an office decorated with South Carolina sports memorabilia, Mulvaney rejoices that Republicans’ increased power will allow the RSC’s new leader to better fulfill the easy-to-understand mission of the caucus.

“I do think it gives us the opportunity to push a conservative agenda,” Mulvaney, 47, says of the GOP’s dramatic gains in the midterm elections, adding:

If the role of the RSC is to move the larger conference to the right — and that is the reason it exists — then I think the opportunities to do that went up last Tuesday.

Not a Power Play

Mulvaney, a fresh-faced lawmaker born in Alexandria, Va., joined Congress in 2011 as part of the tea party wave. He already enjoys deep respect in the conservative movement and insists he wants to assume a leadership position only to make the RSC better — or in this case, righter.

This run for the power of the chairmanship isn’t about power, Mulvaney says. Although past RSC chairmen such as Rep. Steve Scalise  of Louisiana (now the House majority whip) have used the position as a pedestal to gain more power, he notes, many who have made the jump wish they hadn’t done so.

“I am not the leadership type,” says Mulvaney, a lawyer and businessman in his former life. He explains:

I am not running for anything after this. I am happy with this. I think this will be a very exciting time for the RSC as we continue to push the larger conference to the right. In doing that, its not any part of a personal agenda for me. It’s a desire to see this organization do those things that I just said.

Indeed, like a good sportsman, Mulvaney, a Roman Catholic, refuses to contrast himself with his opponents for the RSC chairmanship — Texans Bill Flores and Louie Gohmert — or even reference them by name.

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Told that Flores has been circulating a scorecard touting his own conservative credentials on national defense — and rejecting his opponents’ resumes — Mulvaney doesn’t take the bait.

He reacts similarly when questioned about reports that Flores is selling himself as someone with an opposing leadership style to Mulvaney’s — more collaborative than combative.

“I will talk about my own style,” Mulvaney says. “I don’t talk about opponents. I’ve tried not to during the race. I think that’s better practice.”

Able Dealmaker

Even if Mulvaney would lead differently than his competition (he won’t say so), it may not matter.

That’s because, Mulvaney contends, achieving the RSC mission requires doing whatever it takes to achieve its ends. That may mean butting heads with establishment House leadership or making nice with it.

“I don’t think it’s the role of the RSC chair to be a shill for leadership,” Mulvaney says.

This is not a leadership position. This is separate and apart from that. So I think it’s incumbent upon the chairman to walk that fine line between working with leadership sometimes and pushing back at them at others. And I think I’ve shown the ability to do that. You have to have that credibility. What’s the best way to move the larger conference to the right?

Rep. Jim Jordan, a former RSC chairman, says Mulvaney has proved himself an able dealmaker.

Mulvaney and Jordan, R-Ohio, are close friends.

“Mick Mulvaney is a principled conservative who is both well-liked and well-respected by members of the RSC and the Republican conference,” Jordan says in an email to The Daily Signal. “He is disciplined, stays on message and knows how to appropriately guide legislation and fellow members in the right direction.”

Let the Record Tell it

But don’t mistake Mulvaney’s likability for passivity. He passionately defends his record.

On defense issues, he has made it a focus to scrutinize the budget for what the Obama administration calls Overseas Contingency Operations (the Bush administration called it the global war on terror). The budget is the source of funding for the military campaign against ISIS, the terrorist group also known as the Islamic State.

Mulvaney calls the account a “slush fund.”

“I think some folks have raised that as, ‘Mick is soft on defense,’ ” he says.

Everybody in the RSC is strong on defense. That is part of what it means to be a conservative. Everyone in there recognizes that defense of the nation is one of the few duties that the Constitution charges the federal government with doing. I think that the differences some have pointed to are small differences.

Another distinction drawn by his competitors is Mulvaney’s openness to immigration reform. Mulvaney, who speaks Spanish, told The New York Times that he favors legal status for some of the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. unlawfully.

Flores and Gohmert say they oppose any form of amnesty or “reward” for those in the country illegally.

Change From the Inside

Throughout his interview with The Daily Signal, the South Carolina lawmaker displays a disdain for labels — especially from those he calls outsiders. Traditionally, though, the RSC has had good relations with groups that represent conservative principles.

If elected RSC chairman, Mulvaney vows, more than anything else he hopes to drive the debate on conservatism — leading with action more than words:

I’ve talked about the role of the RSC in trying to assert itself in the definition of what it means to be a conservative. To a certain extent, that mantle has been taken by many of the outside groups. They do their scorecards, and say, ‘This is a good conservative vote.’ I learned during the farm bill that it should be us — who are actually voting — who should actively participate in what it means to be a good conservative.

 

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