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Former Speaker Newt Gingrich, who led Republicans to their first House majority in 40 years in 1994, said Saturday that the House Freedom Caucus should remember how his caucus led conservatives to power within the party. said.
Mr. Gingrich tweeted that he and other conservatives developed the “Principles of Positive Action” in 1983 as part of a group they called the Conservative Opportunity Institute.
”[Those] Eleven years later, a deal was struck with the United States, leading to the first Republican House majority in 40 years. ”
“If the Freedom Caucus studied them, they would become dramatically more effective,” Gingrich continued, writing in political reporter Mark Halperin’s Wide World of News newsletter. Agreed, quoting the opinion.
”[T]”The Freedom Caucus is a group of rebels with a set of ideals, but no consistent path to achieving those ideals,” Halperin wrote.
In the 1980s, with Ronald Reagan in the White House, Boston Democratic Party Speaker Tip O’Neill had strong control of the House of Representatives. O’Neill and Reagan were markedly friendly, but ideologically different.
Coinciding with the early days when C-SPAN began broadcasting live floor proceedings, Gingrich often appeared in the well of the House late at night, entertaining viewers in a nearly empty chamber but in a new television format. He took up conservative issues with fascination. .
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Gingrich biographer Craig Shirley told Fox News Digital on Saturday that the Freedom Caucus should study the work of its relative predecessor, the Conservative Opportunity Association, and the path Gingrich took from low-profile congressman to speaker. That’s what he said.
Shirley said of Gingrich’s work in the 1980s and 1990s, “I think the word great is thrown around too bluntly. So let me tell you, it’s not a good idea to advocate for conservative governance. “It was extremely wise politics.”
“Reagan was already paving the way eight years before Gingrich.”
While critics say the Republican Party has moved sharply to the right on some issues and softened on others, Mr. Shirley said the party is essentially the same as it was during Mr. Gingrich’s rise. .
“Less government, more freedom, less taxes, more defense, no pro-life.”
Former Rep. Vin Weber (R-Minn.), another top member of Mr. Gingrich’s conservative group, said in an interview on PBS that he was a member of the Conservative Opportunity Association (or the then-unformed Freedom Caucus). He said there were not many such groups. (at the time of the interview), said there was a similar problem with fears of offending party leaders.
Weber said there were several small conservative groups within the caucus even before the Reagan administration, including one in the 1960s led by then-Congressman Reagan. Donald Rumsfeld, Republican, Illinois. –He would go on to serve as Secretary of Defense twice.
On the final day of the 1982 session, Gingrich approached Weber and asked, “What are you doing for the next year and the next 10 years?”
“I thought that was interesting and said, ‘I guess I’ll be back here again, but other than that, there’s nothing special about it,'” Webber recalled.
“What he was saying was that he wasn’t effective as a person…He identified me in that.” [GOP] have a meeting as someone else [who] He supported his point of view and may have had the ability to organize things,” Weber said.
Mike Johnson re-elected as Speaker of the House
Shirley said the current Freedom Caucus has a rare opportunity to accomplish its goals if it plays its cards right, since Republicans have complete control of Washington.
“They don’t have a ‘contract,’ but they do have a second best option. They have a core set of issues and an ideology that they can easily follow,” he said, adding, “No one should doubt it. No,” he added. Mike Johnson’s commitment to “Reaganite” principles.
In additional comments on Fox News’ “Hannity,” Mr. Gingrich said Friday’s first round vote was a “huge victory” for Mr. Johnson (R-La.).
”[He’s] Just a decent, hardworking, intelligent human being. …I could never have been a speaker like him. I don’t have the patience. I don’t have the ability to just move forward. That’s really very unusual. ”
Meanwhile, Freedom Caucus member Ralph Norman R.S.C. told Fox News that the group had previously met with Prime Minister Johnson, but “there was no desire to fight for President Trump’s policies or a sense of, ‘Hmm.’ I just couldn’t come up with it,” he said. . ”
“And I use as a backdrop what’s happened over the last 14 months. We had a 1,500-page omnibus bill that I can’t even read, where we offset $100 billion in new spending. There were no spending cuts to do so.”
“And I know we were in a slim majority, but that’s over now. What did we want to impress?” [Johnson] Are you going to fight for the things we’ve been asking for yesterday, like a balanced budget? Like offset? Do you want to support all of Trump’s policies? ”
Mr. Norman, along with Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas), did not initially vote for Mr. Johnson, which would have set up a second speaker vote.
But Norman told The Story that his actions were “the only way I was going to get my voice heard.”
He said Johnson “made a commitment” to fight for what he said on Fox News, adding to that agreement, Trump’s message that he is the only speaker candidate supported by the caucus. He said that ultimately led to his decision to support Louisiana.
In a “Dear Colleague” letter released Friday, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris (R-Md.) and his members say they want to “reverse the damage of the Biden-Harris administration.” Prime Minister Johnson expressed several policy points that he should address. It also achieves long-standing conservative goals.
The letter said he voted for Johnson because of his “firm support” for Trump and to ensure a smooth certification of electors on January 6.
“We took this action despite our sincere reservations regarding the Speaker’s performance over the past 15 months.”
The caucus asked Johnson to amend the House of Commons calendar to make it as busy as the Senate, and to ensure that the reconciliation bill would reduce spending and the deficit in “real terms” , called for an end to the violation of the “72-hour rule” for deliberating constitutional amendments. invoice.
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They also called on Mr. Johnson not to rely on Democrats to pass legislation that a majority of his caucus does not support.
In comments to “The Story,” Norman said that through the initial silence of several Republicans during the first roll call, and the fact that Johnson and Self were the first non-Johnson votes, Johnson was in the conservative camp. He said he believes he understands that he must make efforts to take this into consideration. request.
Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.
He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.
Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.
Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduate of Temple University with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.
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