--- title: House Freedom Caucus: What to Know About the Group description: President Trump on Thursday vowed to fight the Freedom Caucus in the 2018 elections. Here's what to know about the conservative group canonical: https://time.com/4718360/freedom-caucus-donald-trump-what-to-know/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-30T17:30:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:07:25.483Z article:section: Politics og:title: 5 Things to Know About the House Freedom Caucus og:description: President Trump vowed to fight them in the midterm elections. og:url: https://time.com/4718360/freedom-caucus-donald-trump-what-to-know/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb81f77eae1cd7671/6988c09b86f68e62a86e40c2/house-freedom-caucus.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5399 og:image:height: 3037 og:image:alt: House Freedom Caucus on Affordable Care Act Replacement og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 5 Things to Know About the House Freedom Caucus twitter:description: President Trump vowed to fight them in the midterm elections. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb81f77eae1cd7671/6988c09b86f68e62a86e40c2/house-freedom-caucus.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 5 Things to Know About the House Freedom Caucus > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 30, 2017 5:30 PM UTC  Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, speaks during the House Freedom Caucus news conference on Affordable Care Act replacement legislation on Feb. 15, 2017\. Behind Sen. Paul from left are Virginia Rep. Tom Garrett, South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford, North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows, and Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, speaks during the House Freedom Caucus news conference on Affordable Care Act replacement legislation on Feb. 15, 2017\. Behind Sen. Paul from left are Virginia Rep. Tom Garrett, South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford, North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows, and Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan. Bill Clark—CQ-Roll Call/ Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 30, 2017 5:30 PM UTC President Trump suggested he may campaign against members of the House Freedom Caucus in the 2018 midterm elections. In [a tweet Thursday morning](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/847435163143454723), Trump criticized the [group of conservative lawmakers](http://time.com/4712026/ahca-house-freedom-caucus-health-care-repeal/?iid=sr-link5) who helped [torpedo the Republican health care bill](http://time.com/4712883/ahca-paul-ryan-donald-trump-no-vote-obamacare/) last week and said he would “fight them” and Democrats in 2018. “The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don’t get on the team, & fast. We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018!” Trump [tweeted](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/847435163143454723) Thursday morning. At least one member of the Freedom Caucus was unfazed by the threat. “We appreciate the President, we’re trying to help the President, but the fact is you’ve got to look at the legislation. And it doesn’t do what we told the voters we were gonna do and the American people understand that,” said Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, a founding member of the Freedom Caucus, in a Fox News interview on Thursday, responding to Trump’s tweet. Here are five things you need to know about the House Freedom Caucus. ## It was founded two years ago. The House Freedom Caucus was [founded in January 2015](http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/house-freedom-caucus-conservative-legislation-114593) by nine Republicans as an invite-only group with the goal of lobbying for more conservative legislation. According to its mission statement, “the House Freedom Caucus gives a voice to countless Americans who feel that Washington does not represent them. We support open, accountable and limited government, the Constitution and the rule of law, and policies that promote the liberty, safety and prosperity of all Americans.” The Trump Administration is the first time the House Freedom Caucus has had to make decisions on legislation under a Republican president. ## It’s not the only ideological group in the House. The Republican Study Committee, founded in 1973, is a conservative caucus of House Republicans that promotes a limited government and strong national defense. With over 170 members, it’s much larger than the Freedom Caucus. Another congressional member organization, the Tuesday Group, is more centrist and was established in 1994. ## It has more than 30 members. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows and Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry are the co-chairs of the House Freedom Caucus, which currently has about 32 members, according to the [Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/03/30/trump-says-we-must-fight-hard-line-conservative-freedom-caucus-in-2018-midterm-elections/?utm%5Fterm=.4df310beaa17). Members of the House Freedom Caucus are among the most ideologically conservative House Republicans, as [Pew Research Center found](http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/10/20/house-freedom-caucus-what-is-it-and-whos-in-it/) in an analysis of 36 confirmed Freedom Caucus members in 2015. ## The caucus has wielded a lot of power in past fights. The [Freedom Caucus](http://time.com/4074575/the-reasonable-nut-job-caucus/) played a role in former Republican House Speaker [John Boehner’s decision to retire](http://time.com/4049977/john-boehner-resigns/) in 2015, after the group continued to challenge his leadership. The caucus, which aimed to reduce government spending and oppose policies of the Obama Administration, threatened to shut down the government in 2015, vowing to oppose any spending measure that included funding for Planned Parenthood. ## But its actions have also led to some departures. The group’s tactics have proven to be too much for some members. Texas Rep. Ted Poe, one of the original members of the caucus, resigned from the group this week after the failure of the GOP health care bill, voicing disagreement with how the group handled negotiations. “No matter what changes were made, the goal post kept getting moved and then at the end of the day, ‘No’ was the answer,” he [told _Fox & Friends_](http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/03/27/rep-poe-resigns-house-freedom-caucus-over-failed-gop-health-care-bill). “And sometimes, you’re going to have to say yes.” The 2015 showdown over Boehner’s leadership and the proposed government shutdown also caused [California Rep. Tom McClintock](http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/mcclintock-resigns-from-house-freedom-caucus-213692) and [Wisconsin Rep. Reid Ribble](http://www.politico.com/blogs/the-gavel/2015/10/ribble-leaves-freedom-caucus-214596) to leave the caucus. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4718360/freedom-caucus-donald-trump-what-to-know/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4718360/freedom-caucus-donald-trump-what-to-know/"},"headline":"5 Things to Know About the House Freedom Caucus","datePublished":"2017-03-30T17:30:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:07:25.483Z","description":"President Trump on Thursday vowed to fight the Freedom Caucus in the 2018 elections. 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