Meadows offers to resign from conservative Freedom Caucus board

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) told his colleagues on Wednesday he would resign from the conservative House Freedom Caucus board of directors, a day after he offered a resolution to oust Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) as Speaker.

He made the offer during a Wednesday morning closed-door Freedom Caucus meeting called to discuss his actions, three lawmakers in the room told The Hill. The sources, including one fellow board member, said they were left with the impression Meadows would follow through with his resignation. 

{mosads}But Meadows spokeswoman Alyssa Farah said Wednesday night her boss actually would not be stepping down from the board, though she confirmed that he did make the offer. 

“It is incorrect that Mr. Meadows has resigned his board position on HFC,” Farah said in an email. “While he did make the offer to [resign], he will remain in his position on the HFC board.”

Meadows was one of nine Republicans who in January co-founded the Freedom Caucus, a selective group of more than 40 conservative House lawmakers led by Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

Earlier this week, Jordan and other caucus members had “labored diligently” to convince Meadows to drop his plans to offer the resolution, one lawmaker said. But Meadows ignored their warnings and did it anyway, enraging conservatives and establishment Republicans alike who complained that the resolution would create a distraction for the GOP during Congress’s August recess.

Meadows will continue to be a member of the Freedom Caucus, members said.

Updated at 9:05 p.m.