Labrador sets Freedom Caucus tone for Trump transition
President-elect Donald Trump deserves some transitional breathing space.
That and other observations were made Wednesday by Idaho 1st District Rep. Raul Labrador as the headline figure in a press gathering of conservative Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives — part of a group known as the Freedom Caucus.
The meeting in Washington occurred on the heels of a story published by the right-leaning Breitbart News suggesting via anonymous sources that the Freedom Caucus intends to “undermine the mandate” of President-elect Donald Trump.
Even beyond the Breitbart story — which was not specifically addressed at this conference — there is a spotlight on the Freedom Caucus, which has been self-defined as a group of free market and liberty-minded conservative members of Congress.
Members command attention because of their numbers (currently representing 44 votes in the House), large enough to block any legislation.
The Breitbart story indicated the Freedom Caucus intended to buck policies set by House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and it was Labrador who put that in perspective for his colleagues and the media.
“I think we can be a bridge between (Ryan’s) ‘Wall Street Journal’ wing of the party and the populist wing of the party,” Labrador said, noting the American people clearly voted for populism in the recent election.
The group made it clear the Freedom Caucus would continue its original mission of providing a check on Congress in general, on its own Republican leadership, and now on incoming President-elect Trump.
Labrador signaled messages of cooperation with the new Trump administration while at the same time making a strong statement demanding Congress take back its legal authority to make law.
“I’m giving them space,” Labrador said of the Trump transition team. “Trump wanted to win the election instead of focusing on any transition. It makes me laugh that you guys are writing that the transition is in disarray. Give them some time.”
But echoing some other conservatives present for the conference, Labrador was insistent about Congress’ role in governing.
“We need to write better laws,” he said. “We’ve been too lazy, passing laws that aren’t specific and therefore give the executive the opportunity to interpret them any way they wish.
“[In writing laws], we need to tell the administration exactly what we expect them to do. We need to write clear, precise laws.”
The Freedom Caucus members who attended the Wednesday briefing included Reps. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Louie Gohmert of Texas, Steve King of Iowa, and Matt Salmon of Arizona.
The event was moderated by Genevieve Wood of The Heritage Foundation and live-streamed on the Conversations with Conservatives Facebook page.
The group handled questions and commented on topics such as the repeal of Obamacare, along with Trump’s statement there are parts of the act he’d like to keep. Other topics included discussion of changing the Senate’s filibuster rules (which currently allow the minority party to hold up bills unless there is a 60-vote super-majority) and the issue of presidential overreach.
Labrador noted, with some irony, that both parties had accused each other of executive overreach depending on which party held the White House.
“We put on our red jerseys or our blue jerseys to object,” Labrador said. “We need to put on our legislative jerseys.”
On the potential dumping of Obamacare, which Rep. Gohmert said would immediately save the government $4 trillion if repealed entirely — a figure that was disputed — Labrador was far more cautious.
“We have to be careful not to confuse repeal with replacement,” he said. “We don’t want to repeal this without having something to replace it.
“And we have a moral obligation to provide a safety net [for Americans who could lose insurance coverage].”