While the Republican Party crumbles around them, the children of the Freedom Caucus are plotting over what happens in their own little world of the House Republican conference, since that seems to be the only thing that matters to them. That and whether they're going to vote for class president Speaker Paul Ryan again.
Some members of the group are flirting with mutiny in private conversations with one another. Others are considering quitting the group if the caucus takes such an extreme measure. A third cluster wants to use its leverage over the upcoming vote for speaker to secure rules changes that would empower conservatives.
But no one seems to have the slightest clue as to what they’ll actually end up doing.
The discord adds a layer of uncertainty surrounding Ryan’s future. Republicans will return to Capitol Hill in mid-November most likely with a significantly slimmed-down majority. Multiple caucus members itching to push Ryan further to the right have anonymously floated the possibility of running someone against him—if not to boot him, then to extract concessions from him.
But while the caucus could conceivably round up the handful of votes it would take to deny Ryan another term as speaker, the group does not yet have a viable alternative who could get to 218 votes. Indeed, it’s still unclear whether the Freedom Caucus will even go after Ryan, in part because several of its members like him — and some believe doing so is counterproductive to their mission.
Just a reminder that it's these people who have driven the House for the past six years, under both John Boehner and Paul Ryan.
If Republicans continue to the hold the House, which seems likely at this point, they'll have the biggest voting bloc in in the GOP conference, and they'll be even more powerful (if they don't completely splinter, which is always a possibility since they seem to need more targets for their circular fire).
The only upside here is the damage they're doing to Ryan, politically. Ryan's ruin is both fun to watch and important for the future health of our nation, but the current health of our nation is suffering. Bigly. The best answer of all is to take the House away from them.
Can you chip in $3 to all of our House candidates to hasten Ryan on his way out?