House freshman class president to GOP leadership: ‘Bring it on’
Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) began fundraising Wednesday evening off rumors that House GOP leadership will punish him for dissenting on President Obama’s trade agenda.
{mosads}Buck, the House freshman class president, is likely losing his title as punishment for breaking ranks with his party’s colleagues over a vote to consider the package of proposed trade bills two weeks ago.
He vowed Wednesday evening not to back down, before a House freshman class meeting Thursday morning that could decide his fate.
“R. leaders called snap election to impeach me as Class President b/c I voted against #Obamatrade – Keep us fighting!” he tweeted, with a link to his campaign’s donations page.
Buck then reiterated his rationale for challenging House GOP leadership over their stance on trade in a series of messages sent from a Twitter account for his election campaign:
The GOP Leadership is meeting in secret in an attempt to remove me as Freshman Class President. Bring it on. 1/4 #obamatrade #copolitics
— Ken Buck (@BuckForColorado) June 24, 2015
I will stand my ground for conservative principles. 2/4 #obamatrade #copolitics
— Ken Buck (@BuckForColorado) June 24, 2015
We need leadership not by fear but by vision, we need to be doing the work conservatives sent us here for. 3/4 #obamatrade #copolitics
— Ken Buck (@BuckForColorado) June 24, 2015
I voted against #Obamatrade because it was the right thing to do. 4/4 #copolitics
— Ken Buck (@BuckForColorado) June 24, 2015
A notice obtained by The Hill on Tuesday evening said Republican Reps. Mimi Walters (Calif.) and Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) — who are both close to leadership — have scheduled an “important freshman class meeting” at 8:30 a.m. Thursday morning.
Walters confirmed the conference would discuss future leadership for the class of lawmakers elected in 2014.
“A majority of the freshman class has expressed concerns I share regarding the leadership of our class President,” she said in a statement provided Wednesday.
“In addition to regular business, tomorrow we will be discussing the direction of future leadership,” Walters added.
Buck voted against the procedural motion to bring up Obama’s package of proposed trade legislation on the floor two weeks ago, joining 33 other Republicans in doing so.
Three other Republicans who voted against the trade rule – Reps. Trent Franks (Ariz.), Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.) and Steve Pearce (N.M.) – were ousted from the House GOP whip team. Rep. Mark Meadows (N.C.), meanwhile, lost his Oversight subcommittee chair for voting against the rule.
The Senate also voted in favor of fast-track trading authority Wednesday, sending the bill to the White House in a victory for both Obama and GOP leaders in Congress.
Republican leaders will now likely focus on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a proposed trade deal Obama is negotiating with Pacific Rim nations.
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