Your feedback ensures we stay focused on the facts that matter to you most—take our survey
You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition - April 3, 2017
Trump Administration (first term)  Vice President Mike Pence Cabinet • White House staff • Transition team • Trump's second term |
Domestic affairs: Abortion • Crime and justice • Education • Energy and the environment • Federal courts • Firearms policy • First Amendment • Healthcare • Immigration • Infrastructure • LGBTQ issues • Marijuana • Puerto Rico • Social welfare programs • Veterans • Voting issues Economic affairs and regulations: Agriculture and food policy • Budget • Financial regulation • Jobs • Social Security • Taxes • Trade Foreign affairs and national security: Afghanistan • Arab states of the Persian Gulf • China • Cuba • Iran • Iran nuclear deal • Islamic State and terrorism • Israel and Palestine • Latin America • Military • NATO • North Korea • Puerto Rico • Russia • Syria • Syrian refugees • Technology, privacy, and cybersecurity |
| Polling indexes: Opinion polling during the Trump administration |
This is the April 3, 2017, edition of an email sent from November 2016 to September 2017 that covered Donald Trump's presidential transition, cabinet appointees, and the different policy positions of those individuals who may have had an effect on the new administration. Previous editions of "You're Hired" can be found here.
Today, we offer a look at the relationship between President Trump and members of the House Freedom Caucus. The Freedom Caucus is a congressional caucus that aims to “support open, accountable and limited government, the Constitution and the rule of law, and policies that promote the liberty, safety and prosperity of all Americans.” We look at where things stand between the president and this group and explain how we got to this point in the administration.
What exactly happened with the AHCA?
The American Health Care Act (AHCA) was introduced in the U.S. House on March 6, 2017, as a reconciliation bill, meaning it impacted the budgetary and fiscal provisions of the Affordable Care Act, and did not contain a provision to repeal the law in its entirety. As a reconciliation bill, the AHCA could also have been passed in the Senate with a simple majority of votes (51-49) rather than the 60-vote threshold required to end a Senate filibuster.
On March 13, 2017, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) released a report estimating the cost of the AHCA and its impact on the number of uninsured. The CBO found that the market for insurance purchased individually would remain stable under the AHCA and that it would reduce federal deficits by $337 billion over the 2017 to 2026 period. But, the report also found that 24 million more people would be uninsured by 2026.
Many Freedom Caucus members criticized the AHCA because it would not have fully repealed the ACA, included an extended period for the Medicaid expansion, and replaced income-based subsidies in the ACA with age-based tax credits, which they said was a new entitlement. A scheduled vote on the bill was canceled on March 24, 2017.
What exactly is the Freedom Caucus? And what did they oppose in the AHCA?
The House Freedom Caucus was established in 2015 by a group of nine Republican representatives and grew to roughly 40 Republican members by October 2015. In March 2017, the Wall Street Journal estimated that the caucus maintained about 29 members. An October 2015 study by the Pew Research Center found that the majority of caucus members were generally considered to be more conservative than most Republicans.
Rep. Mark Meadows (N.C.) is the caucus’ leader, and the following individuals are known members (the caucus does not have an official membership list):
- Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio)
- Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho)
- Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.),
- Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.)
- Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.)
- Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas)
- Rep. Rod Blum (R-Iowa)
- Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.)
- Rep Warren Davidson (R-Ohio)
- Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.)
- Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas)
- Rep. Andrew Harris (R-Md.)
- Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.)
- Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.)
- Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.)
- Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.)
The caucus often meets to decide whether or not to vote as a bloc on certain legislation.
In terms of the AHCA, members of the Freedom Caucus opposed the bill, branding it as “Obamacare lite.” Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan (a former Freedom Caucus chair) said, “This is Obamacare by a different form. They’re still keeping the taxes in place and Medicaid expansion, and they’re starting a new entitlement.” Meadows, the caucus chair, said, “We call on Congressional leaders to keep their word to the American people, to push a real repeal of ObamaCare, and to do it now. The only way to really do that in a way that ensures passage is to move forward with a 'clean' repeal, such as the 2015 repeal bill.”
They were joined by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who said, “If anyone tells you there isn’t a plan that can both keep our promises to repeal, and work in a bipartisan, open way for replace, tell them conservatives have a plan to do just that. Now let’s hope our leadership will listen, because it is the only way they’re going to get our votes.”
On March 20 and 24, the House added amendments to the bill that aimed to satisfy some of the Freedom Caucus’ demands, including changes to Medicaid eligibility and a repeal of the ACA's requirement that insurers provide federally determined essential health benefits.
Read the stances of Republicans on the AHCA here.
Where do Trump and the Freedom Caucus stand?
The relationship between Trump and the most conservative members of Congress is difficult to assess in light of the AHCA’s canceled vote. After the healthcare bill was pulled, President Trump tweeted a criticism of the Freedom Caucus specifically, saying, “Democrats are smiling in D.C. that the Freedom Caucus, with the help of Club For Growth and Heritage, have saved Planned Parenthood & Ocare!” He later tweeted, “The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don't get on the team, & fast. We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018!”
Trump’s director of social media, Dan Scavino, went further, suggesting support for a primary run against Rep. Justin Amash (Mich.), a founding member of the Freedom Caucus. Scavino tweeted, “.@realDonaldTrump is bringing auto plants & jobs back to Michigan. @justinamash is a big liability. #TrumpTrain, defeat him in primary.” Amash later tweeted, “Bring it on. I'll always stand up for liberty, the Constitution & Americans of every background.”
On the other hand, this weekend, Trump played golf with Sen. Paul, who tweeted that “we are getting closer to an agreement on health care!” Trump himself wrote on Twitter, “Anybody (especially Fake News media) who thinks that Repeal & Replace of ObamaCare is dead does not know the love and strength in R Party!”
In an interview published in the Financial Times on Sunday, Trump offered his assessment of the next steps for healthcare legislation: “There was no reason to take a vote [on the AHCA]. I said, ‘Don’t take a vote,’ and we will see what happens. But one way or the other, I promised the people great healthcare. We are going to have great healthcare in this country. Now, it will be in one form or another. It will be a repeal and replace of Obamacare which is the deal that is being negotiated now. And if we don’t get the . . . Freedom Caucus there that would be fine. They’re friends of mine. Many of them have already left, and many of them as you know have already given us their vote. But when you have zero Democrats, zero, you need close to 100 per cent of the Republicans.”
See also
- You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition
- Donald Trump presidential transition team
| |||||||||||||||||||
