There’s no reason to hide my praise for the Freedom Caucus, that rabble-rousing merry band of far-right conservatives who make trouble for congressional Republican leaders — and for the country.
The hard-liners are willing to shut down government services to make a point, even when the point is dull and the public harm is sharp. They promote chaos to churn up their fundraising efforts. And they flock to social media like waterfowl flock to wetlands to feed — both leave the same kind of mess behind.
But when the Freedom Caucus is right, they deserve credit. And a thank you.
They want more time to read legislation before voting. If I were their high school civics teacher, I would give each of the members a gold star to put on the fridge at home.
Shortly after House Republicans on Jan. 3 re-elected Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson as speaker for the next congressional session, 11 members of the agitating caucus issued a letter — which itself is unusual since most politicians these days communicate by X, though I will never understand Y they don’t just chill out, catch some Zs and wake up feeling better about life instead of setting their typing thumbs into overdrive.
Anyway, the letter, within hours of holding their noses and voting for Johnson because President-elect Donald Trump asked them to play nice, again called on the speaker to accept rule changes to improve the operations of Congress. No argument there. Another gold star.
Pointing to Johnson’s work as speaker over the past 15 months, the outspoken 11 said he should have committed to modifying the House calendar to keep members in session five days per week instead of three and a half days in the opening weeks of the new Congress. Doesn’t seem like too much to ask House members to show up for work a few more days per month.
The letter also repeated the group’s request that House leadership should follow the 72-hour rule, giving members time to read and consider legislation. It’s one of those rules that is often broken when political negotiations and brinkmanship leave little time for thorough reading and analysis — particularly when there is a plane to catch in one of those short workweeks.
While I agree with the intent — no member of Congress can read and understand and fact-check hundreds of pages in a day — the letter misses the point that a lot of House members, and senators, and especially lobbyists like the system the way it is. They prefer that no one has enough time to read every provision and fully understand what it does. Or, more honestly, who benefits.
Packing legislation with rewarding provisions is a longstanding tradition in Congress. Time is the enemy. Lobbyists and cooperating congressional offices would prefer that their handiwork not see the light of day until the next day, when it’s too late to change it. And unlike online shopping, Congress does not allow returns.
So a hearty cheer for the Freedom Caucus 11 who want to slow down the end-of-session dealmaking just enough so that people can read the negotiated legislation before voting — though the caucus often is to blame for employing tactics that hold up work until the last minute. At least they see the problem; now they need to be part of the solution.
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