What is the House Freedom Caucus and who are its current members?

The House Freedom Caucus has been making headlines in recent weeks over the fears that its members wouldn’t support the new spending bill aimed at averting a government shutdown. But what do you know about this group and why they wield so much power?

Originally formed in 2015, the House Freedom Caucus is a cluster of congressmen and women who believe that Republican leadership is too willing to compromise with House Democrats according to The Economist and it is marked by its unity and secrecy. 

Membership to the House Freedom Caucus used to be invite-only and a secret but now the group's big claim to fame is its ability to stay united on important issues. “If four-fifths of members agreed to vote one way, all had to follow suit,” reported The Economist.

The House Freedom Caucus has a simple political philosophy driven by a desire to cut spending and shrink the government. Most of the group’s members support a national ban on abortion as well as greater restrictions on immigration to the United States. 

One of the most worrying aspects about the caucus, and the reason why they’ve come to wield enough power to force a government shutdown, is their willingness to eschew the unwritten rules of politics and pursue hardball tactics in order to achieve their goals. 

The Economist noted the House Free Caucus has no issue holding vital legislation on budgets hostage in order to ring concessions from Democrats. However, their current power comes from the deal they cut with Kevin McCarhty to make him House Speaker.  

McCarthy needed the House Freedom Caucus in order to win the House Speakership, and because of this, the caucus and its members were able to get one key concession from McCarthy that would allow them to end McCarthy’s speakership at any time.

Time magazine reported that this was possible because one of the conditions McCarthy agreed to in order to become House Speaker was that any of his house members could call on a vote of no confidence at any time and for any reason. 

“That Motion-to-Vacate proffer left McCarthy starting his new gig as one of the weakest Speakers in decades, and his right flank knew it,” Time’s Philip Elliot wrote. This is why caucus members are often seen threatening McCarthy. But who is in the caucus?

While the House Freedom Caucus used to be a secretive group, several of its current members have publicly identified themselves or other representatives as being a part of the caucus and Wikipedia has compiled a list of 45 current members from 21 states. 

Representing Alabama's 2nd Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By United States Congress - https://barrymoore.house.gov/about, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=118201673

Representing Alabama's 6th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By House Creative Services - https://www.facebook.com/CongressmanGaryPalmer/photos/a.577046432425926/1174371652693398/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=86315609

Representing Arizona's 2nd Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By United States Congress - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088851021670https://crane.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/crane.house.gov/files/evo-media-image/eli_crane_portrait.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=127319339Andy Biggs (AZ-5) 

Representing Arizona's 98th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By House Creative Services - [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=128939025

Representing Arizona's 9th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By U.S. House of Reps. - http://gosar.house.gov/about-me, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51420358

Representing Colorado's 3rd Congressional District

Representing Colorado's 4th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By United States Congress - https://buck.house.gov/about, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37728482

Representing Florida's 8th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By U.S. House Office of Photography/House Creative Services - [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76585667

Representing Florida's 13th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By US House of Representatives - https://luna.house.gov/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=125800050

Representing Florida's 17th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By House Creative Services - https://steube.house.gov/about/biography, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=122286079

Representing Florida's 19th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By United States Congress - https://donalds.house.gov/uploadedphotos/highresolution/5008af6e-12b9-4ea9-8311-d36935a1438d.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=127597637

Representing Georgia's 9th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By United States Congress - https://clyde.house.gov/about/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=118202075

Representing Georgia's 10th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By United States Congress - https://collins.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/collins.house.gov/files/evo-media-image/mike_collins_portrait.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=127323153

Representing Idaho's 1st Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By United States Congress - https://fulcher.house.gov/_cache/files/f/1/f11472a3-1c9d-4628-9109-3f04a371dbfd/245A67193ED3A9AA7425A4D96C36AA47.2018-11-29-fcm-0022re.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76351997

Representing Illinois's 15th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By House Creative Committee - https://www.facebook.com/RepMaryMiller/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=98456827

Representing Louisiana's 3rd Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By Official House Photographer, Dana Barciniak - [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57134577

Representing Louisiana's 4th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By Mike Johnson - https://mikejohnson.house.gov/uploadedfiles/us_rep_mike_johnson_official_photo.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=114952423

Representing Maryland's 1st Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By US House of Representatives - https://harris.house.gov, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74733406

Representing Missouri's 7th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By U.S. House of Representatives - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089208900263https://burlison.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/burlison.house.gov/files/evo-media-image/eric_burlison_portrait_0.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=127342124

Representing Montana's 2nd Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By House Creative Committee - https://rosendale.house.gov/uploadedphotos/highresolution/b2cc4246-102b-4d7d-8d93-0757e36d493c.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=98491316

Representing North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By U.S. Congress - https://gregmurphy.house.gov/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=83284876

Representing North Carolina's 8th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By United States Congress - https://www.facebook.com/repdanbishop/photos/a.109906717085576/130721708337410/?type=1&theater, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=83685212

Representing Ohio's 4th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By United States Congress - http://jordan.house.gov/biography/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41968523

Representing Ohio's 8th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By U.S. House Office of Photography/House Creative Services - Office of Rep. Warren Davidson, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76686320

Representing Oklahoma's 2nd Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By United States Congress - https://brecheen.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/brecheen.house.gov/files/evo-media-image/official-josh-brecheen-ok02.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=127112404

Representing Pennsylvania 10th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By U.S. House Office of Photography - [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78476615

Representing South Carolina's 3rd Congressional District

Representing South Carolina's 5th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By Unofficial459 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=133660707

Representing Tennessee's 1st Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By House Creative Services - [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=136337872

Representing Tennessee's 4th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By US House of Representatives - [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14477685

Representing Tennessee's 5th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By Library of Congress - https://ogles.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/ogles.house.gov/files/evo-media-image/ogles_andy_portrait.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=126481527

Representing Tennessee's 7th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By United States Congress - https://twitter.com/RepMarkGreen, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75592712

Representing Texas's 14th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By House Creative Services - [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=128077773

Representing Texas's 21st Congressional District

Representing Texas's 22nd Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By United States Congress - https://nehls.house.gov/about-troy, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=128600120

Representing Texas's 27th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By House Creative Services - [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=94825026

Representing Virginia's 5th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By House Creative Committee - https://good.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/good.house.gov/files/evo-media-image/2020_Good_Bob_.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=98498464

Representing Virginia's 6th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By Franmarie Metzler - https://cline.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/cline.house.gov/files/evo-media-image/Rep-Cline_0.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75555802

Representing Virginia's 9th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By Brian Thorpe, House Creative Services - [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=132087264

Representing West Virginia's 27th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By U.S. House Office of Photography - https://github.com/unitedstates/images/issues/92, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=126861469

Representing Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By US House of Representatives - https://tiffany.house.gov/about-0, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=92220000

Representing Wyoming's at large Congressional District

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons: By US House of Representatives - https://hageman.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/hageman.house.gov/files/evo-media-image/official-harriet-hageman-wy00.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=127345776