The bloc of hard-line conservatives is laying the blame for Rep. Tim Huelskamp's landslide loss squarely at House leadership’s feet. | Getty Freedom Caucus knives out for Ryan after Huelskamp loss The outcome in Kansas is sure to heighten House GOP tensions, but could also send a message to the conservative rebels.

The House Freedom Caucus has its knives out for Speaker Paul Ryan and his leadership team after one of the group’s most prominent members lost his seat Tuesday to an establishment-backed rival in a GOP primary.

The bloc of hard-line conservatives is laying the blame for Rep. Tim Huelskamp’s landslide loss squarely at House leadership’s feet. They’re furious that Ryan did not do more to help the Kansas Republican, who lost to obstetrician and political novice Roger Marshall after the challenger pilloried Huelskamp for losing his prized spot on the Agriculture Committee.


Ryan refused before the election to promise publicly that Huelskamp would be reinstalled on the panel next year, saying he alone did not have the power to make such an assurance. That left Huelskamp unable to effectively counter the attacks.

Former Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) backed an effort to remove Huelskamp from the panel three years ago as punishment for repeatedly defying leadership on big votes, something Ryan promised he would never do.

“Our leadership created this situation: They kicked him off a committee and then the whole campaign became, ‘Oh, Tim Huelskamp isn’t on the right committee,’” Freedom Caucus Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said in a phone interview Wednesday. “Are you kidding me? … He lost counties in western Kansas! That is his base! And he lost counties because of the agriculture issue! This is a problem.”

Leadership sources countered they had nothing to do with Huelskamp's demise. Indeed, they were incredulous that the accusation was even being leveled. No matter, it’s already escalating tensions between the group of rabble-rousers and their party leaders.

Jordan said Ryan could have negated Huelskamp’s biggest vulnerability.

“Everybody knows if the speaker of the House says, ‘Tim Huelskamp is back on the Agriculture Committee,’ it makes a difference,” Jordan said. “Everybody knows that would have had an impact.”

Ryan said in a statement Wednesday that he was “proud to serve with” Huelskamp.

“Tim Huelskamp came into Congress with a great class of freshman in 2010,” he said. “They swept the Republican Party back into power with a mandate from the American people to rein in out of control spending and make government accountable to the people again. Tim took that seriously, and never shied from a tough fight to get crony capitalism out of our government. I’m proud to serve with him.”

Another senior Republican source was less diplomatic, saying Huelskamp got what was coming to him, though the person said GOP leaders had nothing to do with his ouster.

“It is outrageous for them to blame leadership,” the source said. “He repeatedly slammed the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, repeatedly voted against the agriculture interests of his own district, and treated everyone around him like crap. That’s no one’s fault but his own.”

Roughly $2 million in anti-Huelskamp ads poured into the 1st Congressional District from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Ricketts family’s Ending Spending political group.

House Republican leaders have no direct control over those groups, but Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), a Freedom Caucus member, believes leadership could have stopped it.

“When the Chamber comes in with as much outside money as they did, and the Chamber consistently gives to the speaker and members the speaker supports, to imply that they have no ability to push back on anything and no influence in how the Chamber spends its money defies logic and would be politically naive,” Meadows said.

But the crux of their anger is about the Ag committee issue.

The Freedom Caucus implored Ryan to go public with an alleged commitment to put Huelskamp back on the panel next year. But the speaker declined.

Ryan’s office told a local newspaper that “I’ve long thought Kansas should be represented on the House Committee on Agriculture,” and “Tim Huelskamp has the kind of background that could serve the state well” on the Agriculture Committee. But also noted that ultimately it was up to a steering committee that decides committee assignments.

Some caucus members were suspicious of that statement.

“The speaker could have said he personally supported Tim, but he said he’d support a ‘Kansan’ to be on the committee, so it sounds like much of the leadership language was crafted in a way to give plausible deniability when, in essence, they were cheering for Tim’s defeat,” said a caucus member who asked not to be named.

The same member said he’s looking for Ryan to rectify the situation, and how he handles the aftermath of Huelskamp’s defeat will influence who the lawmaker supports for speaker next year.

Allies of Ryan’s noted that Boehner at one point tried to make amends with Huelskamp and supported his bid to return to the Agriculture panel. But the entire steering committee torpedoed his efforts. Huelskamp had made too many enemies by failing to support key legislation, including the farm bill, when leaders needed him most.

A former leadership staffer who worked with Huelskamp said he was often untrustworthy and rarely worked as a team player within the Republican Conference.



“The overwhelming majority of the House Freedom Caucus members are constructive and honest,” the former staffer said. “They don’t always vote ‘yes,’ and often vote ‘no,’ but you can count on their word. … Tim is not honest and that ultimately burned him among his colleagues.”

The friction could become problematic. The Freedom Caucus is known for blocking House Republican priorities, most recently sinking Ryan’s plan to vote on a GOP response to the Orlando, Florida, shooting massacre.

At the same time, Huelskamp’s loss could send a message to caucus members that constantly breaking with GOP leaders could carry a heavy price: a well-financed primary challenger and even the loss of their job. Boehner, for his part, was pictured on Twitter relishing the Kansas primary results.

And for that, some on Capitol Hill are gloating.

“The outside groups unmasked them,” said the senior Republican source. “For the first time, somebody went back to their districts and told people what this guy was like. ... Finally, someone exposed one of them for what he is doing and, frankly, not doing, and when they did that, it wasn’t even close. He got killed.”