Rep. Justin Amash revealed Monday he has left the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

"I have the highest regard for them, and they’re my close friends,” the Michigan Republican told CNN. "I didn’t want to be a further distraction for the group."

Amash said he had not attended a caucus meeting in months and had only attended a House Freedom Caucus board meeting before House votes to inform them on his departure. He had been a founding member of the group.

Rep. Justin Amash tells me he stepped down from the House Freedom Caucus and the HFC board tonight.



“I have the highest regard for them, and they’re my close friends,” Amash said. “I didn’t want to be a further distraction for the group.” — Haley Byrd (@byrdinator) June 11, 2019

His decision to leave the caucus comes shortly after he became the first House Republican to call for impeachment proceedings against President Trump. Amash said he believes Trump's actions detailed in Robert Mueller's report met the threshold for impeachment.

After Amash's call, Michigan state Rep. Jim Lower announced he would run against him in the Republican primary in 2020.

"You know at this point, Justin Amash has more in common with Rashida Tlaib than he does the average Republican primary voter in the district. So, we are going beat him on this issue, but we’re also beat him on the fact that in 10 years in Congress, he’s gotten one bill passed and it was to rename a post office. Completely ineffective," Lower said.