Conservative Lawmakers Prepare to Split From Republican Study Committee
Melissa Quinn /
Move over Republican Study Committee. There’s about to be a new conservative group in town.
Just two months after the 172-member organization elected Rep. Bill Flores of Texas as its new chairman, a group of nine lawmakers decided to split from the RSC and form its own conservative caucus.
The group doesn’t yet have a name, but it will be led by former RSC Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio and Rep. Raúl Labrador of Idaho. The other seven founding members are Reps. Justin Amash of Michigan, Ron DeSantis of Florida, John Fleming of Louisiana, Scott Garrett of New Jersey, Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina, Mark Meadows of North Carolina and Matt Salmon of Arizona.
More than three dozen lawmakers have an interest in joining.
Flores beat out Mulvaney and Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert for the RSC chairmanship. Flores’ election, though, sparked concerns that he would side with House leadership on policy issues and debates.
Despite the formation of a new conservative group, Flores remains confident that the RSC is remaining true to its core conservative values.
“I am committed to working with all House conservatives, and all Republican Study Committee members, who believe in limited government and advancing liberty,” he said in a statement to The Daily Signal.
“I am committed to working with all House conservatives, and all Republican Study Committee members, who believe in limited government and advancing liberty,” says @RepBillFlores
“Over the next Congress, there will be healthy debates about how to best achieve those goals, and the Republican Study Committee will play a critical role in fostering those debates to develop conservative solutions that address our nation’s most pressing issues,” Flores continued.
A Republican congressional aide told The Daily Signal the new group is not intended to be anti-RSC. Instead, the organization’s founding members are looking to create a caucus of conservative lawmakers to draft and push conservative legislation.
In recent years, the RSC’s conservative members have voiced concerns that the group drifted from the conservative roots it was founded on in 1973. Additionally, membership has swelled to more than 170 lawmakers—more than half of all Republican lawmakers.
RSC members pay $2,500 in dues to join and $5,000 in subsequent years.
By contrast, membership in the new group will be by invitation only in an effort to maintain the integrity of the organization, the Republican congressional aide said. Lawmakers invited will be required to pay dues, allowing members to hire three to four staff members.
The group also plans to hold a retreat.
Rep. Bill Flores, R-Texas, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, says the group has ‘pulled the House to the right.’ (Photo: Tom Williams/Newscom)
Discussions about the possible formation of a new conservative group began around Flores’ election to the chairmanship, a second GOP staffer told The Daily Signal in an interview. However, his election didn’t serve as the trigger for its creation.
“[Lawmakers were] trying to look at something that would get back to the original intent of what the RSC had in mind: a conservative check on leadership’s agenda and a positive conservative agenda to put in place,” the second staffer said.
Since then, the organization’s founding members have met several times and have had discussions with former RSC members who understood the original intent of the conservative group.
“The notion is that conservatives need to be at the table in the discussion,” the second GOP staffer said. “They need to have that check-valid role so when leadership sets the agenda, a group can say they endorse it or offer an alternative that reflects the true nature of the group.”
Reports suggest that members met with conservative Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas over pizza on Tuesday night to discuss the new group. However, Cruz’s office told The Daily Signal the senator frequently holds gatherings to discuss issues that are important to conservatives.
“The notion is that conservatives need to be at the table in the discussion,” the second GOP staffer said. “They need to have that check-valid role so when leadership sets the agenda, a group can say they endorse it or offer an alternative that reflects the true nature of the group.”
Lawmakers joining the new group can remain members of the RSC, and not all plan to relinquish their membership, the first Republican congressional aide said.
In addition to taking issue with the direction of the RSC, the aide said the committee is no longer an asset for policy analysis.
However, an RSC aide told The Daily Signal the committee provides an analysis of every bill and offers a bevy of resources for members. Additionally, the RSC aide said, the analysis often runs contrary to the positions of House leadership and the Appropriations Committee.
“We’re focused on our positive agenda at the RSC, and I think the RSC has done a lot to advance a conservative agenda in the House over the last several years,” the RSC aide said. “We’re going to continue doing that.”
The RSC aide said the committee proposed strong reforms to the budget over the last two years that were later picked up by leadership and the Republican conference. Additionally, the RSC proposed a health care reform package that repealed Obamacare and implemented a number of patient-centered reforms. The RSC aide said House leadership disagreed with the legislation, but it ultimately garnered 133 cosponsors.
“It was fiscally responsible and true to our principles,” the RSC aide said. “We weren’t waiting for a green light to do that. Members wanted to do that. … That sort of product is key to our core principles.”
Rep. Phil Crane, R-Ill., and others founded the RSC in 1973 to promote and advocate for conservative policies. Ed Feulner, former president of The Heritage Foundation, served as its first executive director.
In an op-ed for The Daily Caller in 2011, Feulner contended that the RSC doesn’t exist to facilitate compromise between Republicans. Instead, he said the group serves to promote conservative principles and fulfill “the mission that brought [lawmakers] to Washington.”
“Since its founding, the RSC has never relished bucking party leadership, but it has never shied away from it either,” Feulner wrote. “As one member noted in the earliest days, ‘We exist to bring pressure from the right on the leadership. If we don’t do that, the only pressure will be from the left, and policies will inevitably move in that direction.’”