Brittney Burns – Staff Writer
On Monday, members of the House Freedom Caucus unanimously voted to elect Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) as chairman. Meadows replaces Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) who served as chairman of the conservative group for two years.
“I am honored and humbled to receive the support of my colleagues for chairman of the House Freedom Caucus,” Meadows said in a statement on Monday. “It is a position that I take very seriously, and as we look toward the coming year, I am tremendously excited about the opportunities we will have to make a difference for Americans on Main Street. I want to thank my colleagues for entrusting me with their support – especially outgoing Chairman, Rep. Jim Jordan, for his outstanding leadership over our first two years.”
The Freedom Caucus, also known as the House Freedom Caucus, is a congressional caucus consisting of conservative Republican members of the United States House of Representatives. It was formed by a group of Congressmen as a “smaller, more cohesive, more agile and more active” group of conservatives.
“The voters of this country sent an abundantly clear message on Nov. 8 that they feel as though Washington does not represent them,” said Meadows. “Now, it’s time for Washington to do what it has failed to do for decades – listen. With a new administration coming in, the Freedom Caucus is ready to go to work on day one to help lead the fight to give Americans a voice in their government.”
Meadows was elected to his third term in Congress in November, comfortably beating out his Democratic Challenger Rick Bryson.
In a statement released Monday night, Jordan congratulated Meadows on becoming the new chairman and said he was certain Meadows would work to fulfill the promises Republicans have made to their constituents.
“I know that Mark has a passion for conservative principles and for serving his district and ordinary Americans across the country who feel forgotten by Washington,” Jordan said.
As soon as Meadows was named chair, he announced plans to immediately get to work on replacing the Affordable Care Act. While the current leadership has a longterm plan to replace the Affordable Care Act in as long as three years, Meadows said that was unacceptable and his first order of business as chair would be to ensure the legislation is repealed and replaced in the 115th Congress, the two-year period that starts in January.
