New Draft of House Freedom Caucus Rules Demands Congressional Ability to Vacate the Chair ‘to Hold the Speaker Accountable’
Shane Trejo
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A proposed draft of rules for the House Freedom Caucus obtained by Big League Politics is demanding the restoration of the ability for Congressmen to vacate the chair in order to “hold the speaker accountable.”
The rules package, published on July 25, wants to fight back against a Washington D.C. swamp that serves “politicians, connected lobbyists, and entrenched bureaucrats” at the expense of the American people.
“Between now and January, the House Freedom Caucus will work with likeminded colleagues to demand aggressive reforms to return the People’s House back to the American people and make it function again,” the proposed rules state.
“Republicans ran to fix Washington so we should not continue the same system that broke it. It’s time to restore real republican government and give elected representatives back their rightful role in lawmaking to implement the will of their voters,” the rules add.
An important provision that is under consideration by the House Freedom Caucus for 2023 and beyond is resetting the House rules. They want to restore the “Motion to Vacate the Chair” procedure so any Congressional representative can offer a privileged motion to remove the House Speaker. This will offer a much-needed measure of accountability that will allow lawmakers to put leadership in check.
Additionally, the House Freedom Caucus wants to hold bureaucrats accountable by reimplementing the Holman Rule to allow Representatives to initiate targeted spending cuts in appropriations bills, banning secret deals behind closed doors by allowing a 72-hour window before legislation can be approved, and stopping earmarks under the guise of promoting community funding projects. They also want to propose substantial reforms to the House Republican Conference.
“To fix the House of Representatives, we must first put Republicans’ own house in order. The governing rules of the House Republican Conference must be reformed to give all Members the
power to fix Washington with a united front and to hold our own party leaders accountable,” they wrote.
The House Freedom Caucus wants to enact a “majority of the majority” rule that would prevent corrupt Republicans from cutting deals with Democrats to approve anti-conservative legislation, grant independence for committees by appointing leaders based on their qualifications and expertise, diversifying the steering committee by increasing the number of regional representatives, stopping omnibus bills and continuing resolutions to justify endless profligate spending, and opening up the legislative process to allow more amendments from the floor.
The proposed rules from the House Freedom Caucus can be accessed here. If this is their agenda moving forward, they will be well on the road to enacting important structural changes to drain the swamp in Washington D.C.
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