Gingrich warns Freedom Caucus to study his time as conservatives issue letter of demand following Johnson vote

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich, who led Republicans to their first majority in the House in 40 years in 1994, said Saturday the House Freedom Caucus must remember how his caucus led the Republicans to power within the party.

Gingrich tweeted that he and other conservatives founded the “principles of doing good” in 1983 as part of what they called the Conservative Opportunity Society.

“[Those] it led 11 years later to the Contract with America and the first GOP House Majority Contract in 40 years. “

“If the Freedom Caucus could read them, they could be incredibly effective,” Gingrich said, further quoting and agreeing with political reporter Mark Halperin's “Wide World of News” newsletter.

“[T]The Freedom Caucus is an insurgent group with a series of causes but no coherent way to achieve these causes,” Halperin wrote.

In the 1980s, even though Ronald Reagan was in the House, Democratic Speaker Tip O'Neill controlled the House. O'Neill and Reagan had a remarkably friendly but ideologically different relationship.

In keeping with the early days of C-SPAN's live television programs, Gingrich would often go to the House floor in the late hours of the night and speak to conservatives in an empty room but with a captive audience in the new form of TV. .

GINGRICH CONTINUES HARRIS' 'RUNNING' SPEECHES

Gingrich's biographer, Craig Shirley, told Fox News Digital on Saturday that the Freedom Caucus should study the work of its predecessor, the conservative Opportunity Society, and how Gingrich was led from a low-level conference to speaker.

“I think the word brilliant is being overused. So let me just say, it was extremely brilliant politics to bring in the issue of general rule,” Shirley said of Gingrich's work in the 1980s and 1990s.

“Reagan had blazed that trail eight years before Gingrich did.”

Although critics say the GOP has shifted to the right on some issues and softened on others, Shirley said it is the same as it was during Gingrich's rise.

“Smaller government, more freedom, less taxes, stronger national defense, pro-life.”

Former Rep. Vin Weber, R-Minn., another senior member of Gingrich's party, said in an interview with PBS that there weren't many groups like the Conservative Opportunity Society (or the Freedom Caucus, which hadn't been formed at the time of the interview) and that there was a similar issue of fear of provoking anger. the leaders of their groups.

Weber said there were small groups of intra-caucus conservatives before the Reagan era, including one in the 1960s led by Rep. Donald Rumsfeld, R-Ill. – who would go on to serve as Pentagon chief for two terms.

On the last day of the 1982 session, Gingrich approached Weber and asked, “What are you doing next year and the next 10 years after that?”

“I thought that was interesting and said, 'I'm waiting to come back here, but nothing special other than that,'” Weber recalled.

“What it meant was that he, as an individual, was not working…. He identified me in the book [GOP] conference as a person [who] “He supported his idea and maybe he had the ability to organize things,” said Weber.

MIKE JOHNSON HAS BEEN RE-ELECTED AND IS SPEAKING IN THE HOUSE

Shirley said the current Freedom Caucus has a rare opportunity to achieve its goals if it plays its cards right, with full Republican control in Washington.

“They don't have a 'contract' but they have the next best thing there. They have a core of issues and ideas that they can easily follow,” he added, adding that “no one should doubt” the Speaker. Mike Johnson's commitment to “Reaganite” principles.

In additional remarks on Fox News' “Hannity,” Gingrich said Friday's one-round vote was a “huge victory” for Johnson, R-La.

“[He’s] just a decent, hard-working, smart person… I wouldn't be the kind of speaker he is. I have no patience. I don't have that ability to keep moving forward. It's really amazing.”

Meanwhile, Freedom Caucus member Ralph Norman, RS.C., told Fox News that the group had met with Johnson previously and that he “didn't come away with the feeling that the 'noise' or willingness to fight for Trump's agenda was there. .”

“And I use as a backdrop what happened in the last 14 months, we had omni bills – 1500 pages that you can't read – where you didn't cut spending to complete $100 billion in new spending.”

“And I know we had a small crowd, but that's gone now. We wanted to impress with it. [Johnson] yesterday was that, will you fight for these things that we were asking for, such as a balanced budget? Do you like offsets? Like following Trump's whole agenda?”

Norman, and Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, initially did not vote for Johnson, which would have set up a second round of votes for speaker.

But, Norman told “The Story” that the act was “the only way to make my voice heard.”

He said Johnson “gave his voice” to fight for the things he said on Fox News, and that agreement, along with a message from Trump that Johnson was the only caucus-backed speaker, guided his decision to ultimately back the Louisianan.

In a “Dear Colleague” letter released Friday, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., and his members outlined several policy points Johnson must commit to in order to “reverse the damage done by the Biden-Harris administration,” as once and achieving long-term savings goals.

The letter indicated that they voted for Johnson because of their “strong support” for Trump and to ensure that the certification of the January 6 election was effective.

“We did this despite our doubts about the Speaker's record over the past 15 months.”

The caucus called on Johnson to change the House calendar so that its agenda is as busy as the Senate, ensure that the reconciliation legislation reduces spending and the deficit in “real terms,” ​​and suspend the violation of the “72-hour rule” for debate on the amendments. debts.

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They also wanted Johnson not to rely on Democrats to pass legislation that the majority of his caucus would not support.

Commenting on “The Story,” Norman said he believes Johnson now understands — with the initial silence of several Republicans during the first call and his first non-Johnson vote — that he will have to work to consider the demands.