Speaker Boehner Removing Fiscal Conservatives From Committees

In the final days before the start of the new Congress, House Speaker John Boehner and the Republican establishment are quietly purging strong fiscal conservatives from prominent budget and finance committees.

Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, who has a 100 percent lifetime rating with FreedomWorks, has been removed from the House Budget Committee.

Rep. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, who has a 96 percent lifetime rating with FreedomWorks, has been removed from the House Budget Committee.

Rep. David Schweikert of Arizona, who has a 96 percent lifetime rating with FreedomWorks, has been removed from the House Financial Services Committee.

Sources tell FreedomWorks that these fiscal conservatives were removed from their committees because their votes were not in lockstep with House leadership. Reps. Amash, Huelskamp, and Schweikert correctly voted against a handful of House leadership supported big spending bills:

Reps. Amash and Huelskamp voted against the House leadership supported Continuing Resolution (H.J. Res. 48) that would have continued our unsustainable levels of deficit spending without the transparency of the open budget process.

Reps. Amash, Huelskamp, and Schweikert voted against the House leadership supported Continuing Resolution (H.R. 2608) that would have funded the government without any spending cuts.

Reps. Amash, Huelskamp, and Schweikert voted against Speaker Boehner’s Budget Control Act (S. 365) which created the failed Super Committee, and allowed President Obama to raise the debt ceiling to over $16 trillion and did not cut, cap, or balance federal spending. 

Reps. Amash and Huelskamp voted against the House leadership supported House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget (H.Con.Res.112) citing that it did not cut enough spending. While a step in the right direction, it would not balance the budget until at least 2040 – far too slowly given the massive size of our nation’s debt. They opted to support the Republican Study Committee’s more conservative budget instead, H.Amdt. 1003.

Call Speaker Boehner and tell him to restore these genuine fiscal conservatives to their respective committees.

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