Amash blasts House leadership after losing Budget Committee spot

{mosads}Amash added that because he had not yet heard from House leaders, “I can only speculate as to what specifically would make Republican leadership punish several of its party’s most principled members.

“Remarkably, I still have not received a single call, email or text from Republican leadership confirming this story. In fact, I wouldn’t even have learned about it if not for the news reports,” Amash wrote. “I look forward to hearing from my party’s leadership about why my principled, conservative voting record offends them. That’s sure to be a lively and entertaining conversation.”

The congressman went on to accuse leadership of “heavy-handedness” and said the action is a sign “to the growing number of young believers in liberty that their views are not welcome here.”

In addition to Amash, Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.) also lost a spot on the Budget Committee.

“It’s pretty disappointing, and it’s a way of relegating the Republican Party to permanent minority status,” Huelskamp told The Hill.

“They like to say they’re conservative … but when you go to Washington and you say, ‘You know what, that’s what we stand for,’ they punish those voices,” he said.

Reps. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) and Walter Jones (R-N.C.) also lost spots on the House Financial Services Committee.

Rep. Steve Scalise (La.), the incoming chairman of the Republican Study Committee (RSC), however, has defended leadership, saying he does not believe they are punishing right-leaning lawmakers. 

In an interview with The Hill Scalise said many members popular with the party’s conservative base have received top committee spots.

“What they fail to mention is that [Rep.] Mick Mulvaney [R-S.C.] got a seat on Financial Services; [Rep.] Raul Labrador [R-Idaho] was fighting real hard to get elevated to Judiciary Committee so he can be more involved in the debate on immigration, and he got that post, so I don’t think anybody would question the conservative credentials of Mick or Raul,” Scalise said.