A bunch of geniuses, all of them. People in the know with the House Freedom Caucus told Politico they're going to be having "a rare, pre-election strategy session in Washington on Wednesday to chart the group's moves in November and beyond."
One of the most pressing questions preoccupying Washington is what the group will do about Paul Ryan. The Wisconsin Republican has said he intends to seek another term as House speaker but has rankled members of the group of several dozen Republican lawmakers that drove John Boehner out of the speakership last year. The Freedom Caucus is also weighing proposals meant to empower its members, some at the expense of GOP leadership's authority. […]
The Freedom Caucus meeting Wednesday has been kept secret by members, underscoring the sensitivity of its plans. A spokeswoman for the Freedom Caucus did not respond to a request for comment.
Such a big secret that it landed at Politico. The big thing they have to figure out is whether they'll support Paul Ryan for speaker in the secret balloting (or not so secret, as the case may be) held the week after the election. They don't have enough votes to get one of their own elected, but have enough numbers to block somebody they don't like. And they're trying to decide whether or not they like Ryan.
Among the demands they're expected to chew over Wednesday: no vote for speaker during the lame duck session because they want to know how Ryan is going to handle the spending bill; changes in the rules so they have more power; and a guarantee that bills that meet a certain threshold of cosponsors get floor votes.
Meanwhile, there's an election happening, about which they seem to be blissfully unaware since they run in districts guaranteed to return them. Otherwise they wouldn't be hanging out in DC for secret meetings six days before the election. They've got more important things to think about, like who to sit with in the House cafeteria for lunch, who's going to be class president, and whether they try to shut down the government in December or not. At least they're continuing to make life difficult for Ryan, who deserves that and more.
Bottom line, this election isn't going to change anything for them. They're going to continue to plot their coups and do their Freedomy thing while making sure the Congress continues to be a farce. Or this election brings a tsunami and they languish under House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Stranger things have happened. Look at everything that's happened in 2016!
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