How the GOP got here: The rise of ultra conservatives from Barry Goldwater to Donald Trump

"In the years that followed, they repeatedly clashed with Democratic President Bill Clinton, shutting down the government on occasion amid fights over government spending."

"MAGA lawmakers Greene and Boebert spar over Kevin McCarthy's speaker bidnnGaetz, a McCarthy enemy who at one point nominated Trump for speaker, made the attempted power grab explicit during an interview on Fox News."

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"MAGA lawmakers Greene and Boebert spar over Kevin McCarthy's speaker bidnnGaetz, a McCarthy enemy who at one point nominated Trump for speaker, made the attempted power grab explicit during an interview on Fox News."

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"MAGA lawmakers Greene and Boebert spar over Kevin McCarthy's speaker bidnnGaetz, a McCarthy enemy who at one point nominated Trump for speaker, made the attempted power grab explicit during an interview on Fox News."

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"MAGA lawmakers Greene and Boebert spar over Kevin McCarthy's speaker bidnnGaetz, a McCarthy enemy who at one point nominated Trump for speaker, made the attempted power grab explicit during an interview on Fox News."

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"A Freedom Caucus chairman, Rep. Mark Meadows, wound up as Trump's White House Chief of Staff."

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"A Freedom Caucus chairman, Rep. Mark Meadows, wound up as Trump's White House Chief of Staff."

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"That included Trump's frequent criticism of the Republican establishment, particularly Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell."

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"That included Trump's frequent criticism of the Republican establishment, particularly Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell."

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"nnNote: Gingrich has denounced McCarthy's critics as selfish, noting that more than 90% of the House Republican Conference have voted for McCarthy in repeated ballots."

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"nnNote: Gingrich has denounced McCarthy's critics as selfish, noting that more than 90% of the House Republican Conference have voted for McCarthy in repeated ballots."

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"One of them, Ronald Reagan, became governor of California and, in 1976, challenged incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford for the Republican nomination."

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"One of them, Ronald Reagan, became governor of California and, in 1976, challenged incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford for the Republican nomination."

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"The Arizona standard-bearer lost in a landslide to President Lyndon Johnson - a year after John Keedy's assassination - but he inspired a number of conservative followers into politics."

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"The Arizona standard-bearer lost in a landslide to President Lyndon Johnson - a year after John Keedy's assassination - but he inspired a number of conservative followers into politics."

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"In the years that followed, they repeatedly clashed with Democratic President Bill Clinton, shutting down the government on occasion amid fights over government spending."

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"He said the Tea Party's biggest gripes with Boehner involved issues, particularly federal spending."

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"Tea Party members who took office intensified their attacks on Obama, the Democrats, and, in some cases, Republican leaders."

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"Culture wars: House Republicans attack Defense Department for 'woke' social policiesBack in the 1930s, humorist Will Rogers made a famous joke about a certain political party: "I am not a member of any organized party."

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"nnIn his 2021 memoir, Boehner said liberals and conservatives have their share of "legislative terrorists," but the Republicans "chaos caucus" devolved into "a predictable pattern."nn"The far-right knuckleheads would refuse to back the House leadership no matter what, but because they were 'insurgents' they never had the responsibility of trying to actually fix things themselves," Boehner wrote.nn"

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"In dramatic 15th ballot, Republican Kevin McCarthy clinches House speaker vote; members sworn innnThe battle over McCarthy and the speaker's job angered many traditional Republicans who see this latest crop of ultra-conservatives as more interested in confrontation and television appearances than in governing or making policy."

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""For the past six years, Donald Trump has shown that you do not have to have principles to be the leader of the party," said Republican strategist Susan Del Percio."

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"During their efforts to block McCarthy, Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., said that "for far too long, conservatives left their leverage on the table and let the establishment ignore us and sideline us."nn"

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"During their efforts to block McCarthy, Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., said that "for far too long, conservatives left their leverage on the table and let the establishment ignore us and sideline us."nn"

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"Charlie Gerow, a Republican strategist and vice chair of the Conservative Political Action Coalition, said he thought about Rogers' joke while watching Republican infighting this week."

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"Because ever-shifting groups of conservative activists have fought ever-evolving Republican establishments for more than a half-century, from Barry Goldwater to Ronald Reagan to Newt Gingrich to the Tea Party to Donald Trump to, now, the House Freedom Caucus."

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"Because ever-shifting groups of conservative activists have fought ever-evolving Republican establishments for more than a half-century, from Barry Goldwater to Ronald Reagan to Newt Gingrich to the Tea Party to Donald Trump to, now, the House Freedom Caucus."

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"Because ever-shifting groups of conservative activists have fought ever-evolving Republican establishments for more than a half-century, from Barry Goldwater to Ronald Reagan to Newt Gingrich to the Tea Party to Donald Trump to, now, the House Freedom Caucus."

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"Because ever-shifting groups of conservative activists have fought ever-evolving Republican establishments for more than a half-century, from Barry Goldwater to Ronald Reagan to Newt Gingrich to the Tea Party to Donald Trump to, now, the House Freedom Caucus."

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"Ultra-conservative House Republicans vociferously defended Trump during his two impeachments, including the one that followed the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021."

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"When reached by phone, Boehner declined to comment on those tumultuous years that ultimately led to his resignation in 2015."

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"Former Illinois GOP Rep. Joe Walsh traced it to the rise of the Tea Party that fueled his election to the House in 2010, the year the GOP won Congress by ruing against President Barack Obama and his health care plan."

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"Former Illinois GOP Rep. Joe Walsh traced it to the rise of the Tea Party that fueled his election to the House in 2010, the year the GOP won Congress by ruing against President Barack Obama and his health care plan."

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"The McCarthy rebellion "doesn't appear at all to be about policy," Walsh said."

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"The McCarthy rebellion "doesn't appear at all to be about policy," Walsh said."

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"Gingrich also eventually faced a revolt from conservatives, though those disputes had more to do with power-sharing rather than ideology."

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"Little more than a decade after Gingrich's departure came the Tea Party, named for the American colonialists who dumped British tea into Boston Harbor in 1773."

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"One of their leaders was a backbencher named Newt Gingrich, who argued - like conservatives before and since - that Republican leaders gave in too much to the Democratic majority."

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"Still, after a disappointing election in 1998 - not unlike the reversals suffered by Republicans in November - Gingrich resigned from the speakership and from Congress itself."

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"In the pivotal election of 1912, former Republican President Theodore Roosevelt, more progressive than party stalwarts, ran against more conservative successor William Howard Taft."

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"House Freedom Caucus members followed the lead of Trump after he won the presidency."

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"In 1964, Goldwater mounted an insurgent campaign against the so-called "Eastern Establishment," and managed to capture the nomination at a fractious convention."

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"The Tea Party and Trump:A foreseeable fire: A steady diet of red meat turned the Tea Party into TrumpismnnThe new faction:What is the House Freedom Caucus and why is Trump attacking its members?nn"

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"That narrow margin gives the hard right more power; only five have to defect to defeat leadership initiatives - and McCarthy found out during the speaker election circus that may haunt his term."

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"nnNow these conservatives, who in 2015 formed what they called the House Freedom Caucus, are contending with Kevin McCarthy."

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"After the Republicans claimed Congress in 2010, Tea Party members bedeviled GOP House Speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan."

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"After the Republicans claimed Congress in 2010, Tea Party members bedeviled GOP House Speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan."

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"There's also a more prosaic reason that arch-conservatives like Boebert and Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., can wield power these angry days: There are about 20 of them, and the Republican Party has only a 9-seat majority in the House - meaning as few as five Republicans can scuttle legislation by switching their votes."

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"There's also a more prosaic reason that arch-conservatives like Boebert and Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., can wield power these angry days: There are about 20 of them, and the Republican Party has only a 9-seat majority in the House - meaning as few as five Republicans can scuttle legislation by switching their votes."

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""If my colleagues get what they want from McCarthy, the chairman of the Freedom Caucus will actually be more important than the speaker of the House in determining the legislation that reaches the floor, how amendments are processed and how spending occurs going forward," Gaetz told Fox host Laura Ingraham."

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""If my colleagues get what they want from McCarthy, the chairman of the Freedom Caucus will actually be more important than the speaker of the House in determining the legislation that reaches the floor, how amendments are processed and how spending occurs going forward," Gaetz told Fox host Laura Ingraham."

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"They continued to embrace Trump and his "Make America Great Again" movement throughout the 2024 elections, which generally went badly for the Republicans, but produced a silver political lining for its very conservative wing."

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"Biggest takeaways: Kevin McCarthy elected 55th House speaker, quashes GOP rebellion with major concessionsnn"

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"In short: The Republican battle over McCarthy's speaker position is a sign of things to come, said Green, author of Legislative Hardball: The House Freedom Caucus and the Power of Threat-Making in Congress."

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"nnBobbie Kilberg, an influential donor and former political strategist for presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, fears the current in-fighting between Republican leadership and its unflinching conservative flank could lead to one-party rule - and not in the favor of her GOP.nn"

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"nnBobbie Kilberg, an influential donor and former political strategist for presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, fears the current in-fighting between Republican leadership and its unflinching conservative flank could lead to one-party rule - and not in the favor of her GOP.nn"

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"Reagan lost, narrowly, but came back four years later to win the presidency, a major milestone for the conservative movement."

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"The current group of hardliners can also trace their lineage to a defeated presidential candidate from nearly 60 years ago: Barry Goldwater.nn"

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"Walsh, the former congressman, said this crop of conservatives is different because they would rather fight than govern."

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"Seeking the last several votes needed to prevail, McCarthy agreed to rule changes and committee assignments that, essentially, will make it easier for conservatives to push their agenda and thwart the establishment."

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"The 20 members who consistently voted against McCarthy make up a little less than 10% of the caucus, but they picked up more power through opposing the aspiring speakers."

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"While Kevin McCarthy did finally rack up enough votes to become Speaker of the House, the deals he made - and the narrow margin of the GOP majority - may wind up giving the hardcore conservative movement the most power it has ever had, a movement that has lasted for decades."

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"During his presidency, Reagan also took some flak from his far right - "let Reagan be Reagan!""

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"Roosevelt wound up leading a third party that split the GOP vote and helped elect Democrat Woodrow Wilson (and made the GOP a more conservative institution as a result)."

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"Roosevelt wound up leading a third party that split the GOP vote and helped elect Democrat Woodrow Wilson (and made the GOP a more conservative institution as a result)."

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"Walsh served one term, losing in 2012 to then-Democratic candidate and current U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth."

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""No doubt, it began with us," Walsh said."

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"Launching a steady volley of verbal attacks on Democrats, and some moderate Republicans, Gingrich climbed the ladder of Republican leadership."

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"Rebel fundraising: These House lawmakers received campaign money from Kevin McCarthy, then voted against himnnConservative infighting:'High school drama'?"

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