Republican Representative Ted Poe resigned from the House Freedom Caucus on Sunday in disagreement over the conservative group's role in sinking President Trump healthcare plan. He suggested his resignation was because he wanted to vote for the Republican healthcare proposal which was adamantly opposed by the right-wing caucus.
“I have resigned from the House Freedom Caucus,” Poe said in a statement. Poe broke with the House Freedom Caucus’s views of the GOP healthcare proposal and planned to vote for the bill, which House leaders ultimately pulled from the floor on Friday.
Poe said his decision to leave the caucus will enable him to better serve his constituents.
“In order to deliver on the conservative agenda we have promised the American people for eight years, we must come together to find solutions to move this country forward. Saying no is easy, leading is hard, but that is what we were elected to do. Leaving this caucus will allow me to be a more effective Member of Congress and advocate for the people of Texas. It is time to lead,” Poe added.
Poe told Caucus chairman Rep. Mark Meadows about his departure from the group, according to a tweet by reporter Chad Pergram. The Freedom Caucus does not keep an official list of members, and Poe was a recent addition to the group.
Poe was in favor of the Republican legislation, but the Freedom Caucus argued the proposal did not go far enough in repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare.
The Freedom Caucus, consisting of the House of Representatives' most conservative members, was instrumental in dealing Trump a stunning political setback on Friday when Republican House leaders pulled the healthcare legislation, derailing a major 2016 election campaign promise of the president and his allies. Trump's fellow Republicans control both houses of Congress.
Trump had courted Freedom Caucus lawmakers intensively. Outside conservative groups such as the Club for Growth and Heritage Action for America that are closely aligned with the Freedom Caucus had strongly opposed the Republican healthcare bill and urged lawmakers to vote against it.
The caucus, rooted in the Tea Party movement, said the Affordable Health Care Act (AHCA) did not fulfill the Republican promise to fully repeal and replace ObamaCare. Despite President Trump’s and House Speaker Paul Ryan’s late attempts to amend the bill to gain support from the caucus, Meadows said the bill does not do enough.
Trump reportedly threatened to target Meadows and other naysayers politically if they opposed the bill. Despite his threats, the House Freedom Caucus did not budge and Ryan indefinitely postponed a vote on the AHCA.
In a tweet on Sunday morning, Trump lashed out at both the Freedom Caucus and other conservatives, saying their actions had left "Democrats smiling in D.C."