The principled stand by members of the House Freedom Caucus to wring significant concessions out of Speaker Kevin McCarthy during the contentious days of voting to confirm his leadership has served as an inspiration to a network of conservatives who are seeking to drain the “swamp” at the state level.
It may have taken fifteen rounds of voting before enough lawmakers were sufficiently satisfied to allow McCarthy to assume the gavel along with the seat of the person who is second in the line of presidential succession, but sometimes the process of democracy is messy and although it was an embarrassing few days for the California Republican, the party’s America First base has emerged from the experience stronger and more determined than ever.
“We have 10 Freedom Caucus state Freedom Caucuses up and running right now. And because of what the House Freedom Caucus did in January during the speaker fight, that has created such a huge inspiration among state lawmakers all over the country,” said State Freedom Caucus Network President Andrew Roth.
“One thing that people may not realize is that there are 50 swamps in the 50 states,” he told Fox News Digital, noting that “swampiness” is not confined to the nation’s capital.
The SFCN was launched in late 2021 with support from the House Freedom Caucus as well as former congressman and Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and consists of Republicans who, according to Roth, advocate for “open, accountable and limited government, the Constitution and the rule of law and policies that promote the liberty, safety and prosperity of all Americans.”
“We do this by providing state freedom classes with the tools, tactics, resources and strategies to help them successfully advance pro growth limited government policy solutions,” he said, adding that the SFCN gives state lawmakers the “ability to meet with each other and discuss how to stop bad legislation and promote good legislation.”
The network is succeeding, “because we’re providing just a little bit of assistance for David to go up against Goliath,” said Roth.
(Video: YouTube/State Freedom Caucus Network)
“Today, the federal government is larger and has more authority than ever before. The permanent administrative state, filled with unelected bureaucrats, has run roughshod over our state legislatures and consolidated power. The principles enshrined in the 10th Amendment have never been more critical,” according to the group’s website.
“Those powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people,” the 10th Amendment states.
“The reason I helped launch the House Freedom Caucus in the U.S. Congress is because I knew it would be a game-changer in advance of limited government and conservative values. And it was. Now it’s time to take it to the states and the State Freedom Caucus Network is going to help make it happen,” Mark Meadows said.
Members are already taking on entrenched power in two states. In South Dakota, the state Freedom Caucus is challenging Gov. Kristi Noem’s office for having “overstepped” its constitutional authority by exploiting a loophole to allow agencies to introduce bills into the legislature without a sponsor, and in South Carolina where GOP leaders in the state House have been accused of forcing Republicans to sign a “Soviet-style pledge” or face being removed from party ranks.
“Where there once were 1,000 soft conservative voices, there is now a very loud, unified, conservative voice in each of the states that we have a Freedom Caucus. And when that voice gets louder and louder, and amplifies … the cause of freedom, it’s gonna put people in a tough spot,” Roth said of the SFCN’s growing influence.
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