WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republican leaders have demoted another defiant colleague in their bid to impose party discipline on procedural votes.
Second-term Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina lost his subcommittee chairmanship this weekend, shortly after Speaker John Boehner expressed anger over rank-and-file Republicans voting against party-backed “rules” that govern individual bills.
Such votes traditionally divide along partisan lines and are seen as matters of party loyalty.
Meadows was among 34 Republicans who voted against a recent rule that allowed consideration of “fast track” trade negotiating powers for President Barack Obama. Most of the 34 are staunch conservatives who often accuse Republican leaders of working too closely with Democrats.
Most GOP leaders support the trade bill.
House oversight committee chairman Jason Chaffetz of Utah said he alone decided to remove Meadows as chairman of the Government Operations Subcommittee.
“I made a tough decision that I believe is in the best interest of the committee,” Chaffetz said.
Meadows said in a statement: “No one should be punished for voting their conscience and representing their constituents.”
“My voting card may have my picture on it,” he said, “but it belongs to the people of Western North Carolina.”
Last week, the House Republican “whip” team dismissed three members who had joined Meadows in voting against the trade rule. The whip team is supposed to round up support for leadership-backed efforts.
Several conservative groups are defending Meadows and the others.
“We need to send a message to the establishment Republicans that if they come after one of our own, we will have their back,” The Madison Project said in a letter that urged donations to Meadows’ re-election campaign.
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The adults have finally had it with the naughty kids and are patting their poor little po-pos. So now they’re blubbering about those mean old RINOs who won’t let them continue to run amok in the dayroom, those awful liberals poopyheads!.Waaaaahhh!
I really hate to say it, but it’s kind of nice to see that MAYBE the GOP leadership has just gotten sick and tired of the snot-nosed brats who think they can run the gov’t when they can’t even run their sandbox.
But then, look at it like this - the GOP can’t run the crazies in next year’s election without getting hammered straight into the ground. I think what you’re seeing are the first stirrings of what is probably going to be a general purge of the zanies, or at least moving them off to the Paper Clip Sorting and Grease Trap Cleaning subcommittees where they can’t make the rest of the party look like blithering idiots.
Of course, it’s too late for that, but hey, better late than never.
Republicans working to close with Democrats? How often has that happened in the last 20 years? These idiots think they own the Constitution and they have absolutely no concept of what the founders where trying to achieve.
I’d suspect the punishment is really due to the ‘conservatives’ (WTF does that mean anymore?) shifting committments on their votes. The whip would have talked and tallied well before Boehner brought the fast track vote up, now they’re counting cost on those legislators who backtracked.