For Old Time’s Sake: Defeated Freedom Caucus Member Laces Into GOP Leaders

After a crushing primary defeat last month, Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) is as disenchanted as ever with his party’s leadership in Congress.

Huelskamp, a member of the uber-conservative House Freedom Caucus, has had a strained relationship, to put it mildly, with House GOP leaders for years. He was on the outs under then-Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), and his relationship with Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) has been frosty.

With his seat already lost and his term wrapping up in January, Huelskamp did not hold back in a Wednesday interview with TPM in the Capitol. In particular, he had some harsh words for Ryan over how the appropriations process has played out in Congress.

“It’s leadership’s fault. They decided not to move appropriations bills through so here we are in September having to do a CR. Why? Don’t forget it’s because they didn’t do the full appropriations,” Huelskamp said. “It’s what Boehner did. What’s the difference?”

As Republicans return from a seven-week recess, Congress now is grappling with keeping the government funded through the election. Originally, Republican leaders in both the House and Senate had pledged to get back to “regular order” and pass spending bills through committee before bringing them to the floor.

Disagreements within GOP ranks as well as controversial amendments over LGBT rights halted that process and has brought members to the point where they may have to pass a continuing resolution.

Huelskamp lost his election earlier this summer in part because of his hardline conservative votes against items like the farm bill, which was of great importance to his district. He had also been thrown off of the Agriculture Committee under Boehner’s reign and begged Ryan to publicly promise to restore him to the post, which Ryan said was up to the House Steering Committee.

On Wednesday, Huelskamp said the House “screwed around all summer and did nothing” to push for appropriations bills. He also accused Ryan of prematurely making a deal with Democrats before rank and file members returned from recess.

“I think Reid and Ryan have already worked out a deal that we all go home and Obama wins again and we are going to abdicate our power of the purse,” Huelskamp said.

Ryan has already announced that he will hold a meeting Friday to take all of his members’ concerns into consideration before making a decision. Huelskamp signaled he doesn’t have much trust in Ryan at this point.

“Trust is built over a series of promises kept, and we are still trying to figure out what promises were kept, but we are very worried about a lame duck because what we saw under Speaker Boehner and what we fear under Speaker Ryan they are going to come back and do things the American people don’t want to do,” Huelskamp said.

Republican leaders on both the House and the Senate have indicated they would prefer to pass a short-term CR now so that a larger omnibus package can be negotiated in a lame duck session. Huelskamp and many in the House Freedom Caucus are fighting to extend the CR into March, arguing that members who are no longer accountable to voters in December shouldn’t be allowed to negotiate the country’s key spending legislation.

House Speaker Ryan’s office did not respond immediately when asked for a comment.