Jim Jordan - Do What You Said You Would Do: Fighting for Freedom in the Swamp

A POST HILL PRESS BOOK

ISBN: 978-1-6 3758-145-2

ISBN (eBook): 978-1-6 3758-146-9

Do What You Said You Would Do:
Fighting for Freedom in the Swamp
2021 by Jim Jordan
All Right s Reserved

Cover Photo by Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA via AP Images

This is a work of nonfiction. All people, locations, events, and situations are portrayed to the best of the author s memory.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author and publisher.

Post Hill Press
New York Nashville
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Published in the United States of America

Table of Contents

To Polly and o ur family.

The House Freedom Caucus gives voice to countless Americans who feel Washington doesnt repres ent them.

House Freedom Caucus Mission Statement

Most House Freedom Caucus members have developed the habit of sitting in the same area of the House during votes: back of the chamber on both sides of the cen ter aisle.

Im not sure why we sit where we do. Maybe its convenience. This area of the House floor is near the cloakroom, and of course, its easier to talk strategy and whip votes when youre all seated in the same area. Its also right by the main entrance to the House of Representativesthe same door the president walks through to deliver the State of the Union Address each year.

I guess there could be some other subconscious explanation. Republicans sit on one side of the House, Democrats sit on the other, and the House Freedom Caucus doesnt sit with either. We take the real estate in betweenright in the middle of the action. Alternatively, maybe its simply that backbenchers sit in the back. Im not sure why we sit in where we do. All I know is, its now tradition, and I like it.

On Tuesday, July 28, 2015, I was following tradition, sitting where I always sit, talking with House Freedom Caucus colleagues about a subject that had dominated our meetings and private discussions for weeks: Joh n Boehner.

Time and again, Speaker Boehner told the American people that Republicans would take bold action in Congress. But when the time came to do just thattypically in big, must pass spending billsthere were a million reasons why we couldnt do what we said we would do. More directly, a million excuses for not doing what the American people elected us to do.

From 2010 to 2015, the Republican message to voters was crys tal clear:

Elect Republicans, and we will cut unnecessary federal spending.

Elect Republicans, and we will repeal and replace Obamacare.

Elect Republicans, and we will refor m welfare.

Elect Republicans, and we will defund Planned P arenthood.

Elect Republicans, and we will hold IRS wrongdoers ac countable.

Elect Republicans, and we will secure t he border.

Elect Republicans, and we will build the wall.

Elect Republicans and we will.

The American people did their part. They elected Republicans to a House majority in 2010 and to a Senate majority in 2014. Unfortunately, Republicans in Congress didnt do theirs.

In 2010, House Republicans campaigned on a platform outlined in a document called Pledge to America. In that document, we promised that if voters gave Republicans the majority, we would enact a modest budget savings of $100 billion in the first year of the next Congress as a down payment to real savings. But within six months of winning the majority and running the House of Representatives in 2011, the promise of cutting a mere $100 billion was alrea dy broken.

Over the next five years, many other promises would be broken as well. With each broken promise, the frustration level of House Freedom Caucus members continued to grow. It was matched only by the frustration level of the American people. The real question was what were we, the House Freedom Caucus, prepa red to do?

Congressman Mark Meadows of North Carolina and a handful of other House Freedom Caucus members were prepared to do something that hadnt been done in ninety-f our years.

Not since 1921 had a member of the House of Representatives filed a motion to vacate the chair. The motion is like a vote of no confidence in a parliamentary form of government. On Tuesday, July 28, 2015, Mark Meadows put forward a vote of no confidence for the Speaker of the House.

What I remember most about that day was watching Mark sign the document and hand it to the clerk. Actually, its what happened right before that I reme mber most.

Although we had been talking about the motion for weeks, none of us knew Mark was going to file it that day. I was sitting where we sit, talking with my colleague Ral Labrador of Idaho, when I looked up and saw Mark in the well of the House at the clerks desk. He was just standing there, pen in hand, leaning over the dais, preparing to sign the motion. Before he did, he turned his head and looked toward us. I could tell he was thinkingthinking hardand looking up. He paused for a few seconds, brought his gaze down, and settled on Ra l and me.

As we stared at each other, I saw an ever-so-slight smile begin to form on Marks face. It wasnt a smirk. It wasnt a look that said, Well get him. It was just a quiet smile that said, Here we go! Thats when I knew he was doing it. And thats the moment Ill nev er forget.

Mark turned, signed the document, and handed it to the clerk. Those actions launched a two-month-long series of events that ended with something that had never happened in American history: The Speaker of the House stepped down midterm. Not because of health concerns, not because of some scandal, but because he didnt have the votes to stay in power. Because a group of us said, we are tired of not doing what we were elected to do. We are tired of the broken promises. Its time for a change.

This book is the story of the House Freedom Caucus (HFC)the events that led to its formation, the people who made it happen, and the way we have strived to make a difference for the countless Americans who feel Washington doesnt represent them. It covers the time period from the IRS targeting scandal of several years ago to the impeachment of President Donald Trump, and it touches on everything in-between. I hope you enjoy it!

When I woke up on October 2, 2020, I figured it would be like most Fridays in D.C. Congress would finish up the week with a few votes on the House floor, and then members would rush to Reagan National Airport to catch a flight home. Polly and I had a midafternoon flight; however, we werent headed home. We were going to Wisconsin to help a colleague raise funds and to attend the presidents rally in Green Bay. It was thirty-two days until the election, and I was determined to get to as many swing states as possible in the closing days of the campaign. In the previous few weeks, I had been to Florida, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, doing events for Republican colleagues who had a serious challenge or for Republican candidates challenging a Democrat incumbent. On each trip, I was encouraging our fellow citizens to not only help our Republican House candidates but to also do everything they could to help the president.

I told anyone who would listen that this election was about one question: Can America remain America? In other words, can the values, principles, and institutions that make America specialthat make America the greatest county everbe preserved? Todays Democrat Party believes America is bad, and therefore, they want to fundamentally change our nation. President Trump and the party he leads believe America is good. Not perfect. But good. America is a country made up of regular and flawed people who all need Gods grace, and principles such as freedom and the rule of law provide the foundation for American e xcellence.