As Twitchy reported, Speaker John Boehner appears to be purging House committees of fiscal conservatives in advance of further fiscal cliff negotiations. Yesterday, Reps. Tim Huelskamp and Justin Amash were abruptly booted from the Budget Committee without the courtesy of a warning (Huelskamp was also kicked off the Agriculture Committee). The two men addressed the ouster at today’s Heritage Foundation Bloggers Briefing:
https://twitter.com/ErickaAndersen/status/276016545585569792
Congressman Huelskamp revealed that while he was essentially blindsided by the committee change:
Wow. Fiscal conservatives = threat to GOP leadership. :-/ RT @fran_chambers: Huelskamp says he was not notified of the committee changes.
— Corie Whalen (@CorieWhalen) December 4, 2012
He had suspected that it would only be a matter of time before he got the boot:
https://twitter.com/fran_chambers/status/276009970728853504
https://twitter.com/fran_chambers/status/276010325021687808
https://twitter.com/fran_chambers/status/276011376609206272
Rep. Huelskamp at Heritage re: Budget. "It's petty, it's vindictive… if you articulate conservative principles, you will be punished."
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) December 4, 2012
https://twitter.com/fran_chambers/status/276013620947734528
https://twitter.com/fran_chambers/status/276013718385610754
https://twitter.com/fran_chambers/status/276014006072918016
And it’s certainly not a recipe for earning conservatives’ trust.
https://twitter.com/fran_chambers/status/276014496412205056
https://twitter.com/ErickaAndersen/status/276013011918016512
https://twitter.com/MikMarieHall/status/276010336967086080
Rep. Amash echoed Huelskamp’s sentiments:
https://twitter.com/lachlan/status/276016043867136000
"I had to read that I was removed from Budget Committee from the newspaper. No one in leadership contacted me" – @RepJustinAmash.
— Julie Borowski (@JulieBorowski) December 4, 2012
Rep. Amash: I've gotten "not a single call from anyone in leadership, not a single email" since Budget purge
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) December 4, 2012
"It's a slap in the face of young people thinking of being Republicans, to say that if you disagree with leadership, you're punished" -Amash
— Julie Borowski (@JulieBorowski) December 4, 2012
https://twitter.com/fran_chambers/status/276016215846178817
What a joke.
Grassroots conservatives are growing increasingly frustrated with the GOP leadership’s apparent disregard for conservative principles. The House purge is only further convincing them that Boehner and the GOP establishment are out of touch with their constituents:
https://twitter.com/fran_chambers/status/276019215171977217
Shorter @SpeakerBoehner: The only thing voters gave us was the House. Purge the fiscal conservatives who let us gain control in 2010!
— Corie Whalen (@CorieWhalen) December 4, 2012
https://twitter.com/CAAmyO/status/276016896405557248
Boehner pulled conservatives Huelskamp, Amash from House Budget Committee. Schweikert and Jones from Hse Financial Services. That means war!
— Daxton Brown (@daxtonbrown) December 4, 2012
https://twitter.com/midlifechick/status/276052854391848960
Activists marched on Boehner’s office today to voice their disgust with the purges.
https://twitter.com/KristinaRibali/status/276016941490110464
Lord knows that the GOP doesn’t have a future if conservative voices are silenced.
Wow. GOP leadership is really crapping on conservatives. Way to build a coalition Big Government Republicans.
— Melissa Mackenzie (@MelissaTweets) December 4, 2012
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