Since Brian Bakst first tweeted the letter above, Tim Miller is seeking to rebrand the formation of the New House Republican Caucus as not really leaving the House Republican Caucus.
Miller tells West Central Tribune reporter Tom Cherveny in Republican House members, including Miller, form new caucus:
Miller said he wants his constituents to know first of all that he remains a Republican. "I will still be working alongside my fellow Republicans,'' said the local legislator. He added that he expects to continue working together with State Representative Dave Baker, R-Willmar, on matters important to the district.
He likened the decision to caucus separately as being not unlike the formation of the Blue Dog coalition years ago in Congress.
Well, no. The Blue Dog Coalition--an ideological congressional member organization (CMO) and there are dozens of CMOs--never formally split with the House Democratic Caucus, as Miller's own new caucus has done with the state-level HRC. What's more, the Blue Dog Coalition's goal was to work with both the left and the right in both parties, according to the Wikipedia entry about the group:
The Blue Dog Coalition is often involved in searching for a compromise between liberal and conservative positions. The coalition currently has 18 members in the House of Representatives.[10] Most of the Blue Dogs are a continuation of the socially conservative wing of the Democratic Party.[3] However, there is not any mention "in the official Blue Dog materials about social issues".[26] The coalition is fiscally conservative, but does not determine a platform for social issues. Among Blue Dog Democrats, "some are fiscally conservative and moderate or liberal on social issues, some are the reverse".[27]
Despite the Blue Dogs' differing degrees of economic and social conservatism, they claim they generally work to promote positions within the House of Representatives that bridge the gap between right-wing and left-wing politics.
It's curious that Miller compares the formal new caucus with the Blue Dog Democrats, because there are ideological Republican caucuses like the Republican Study Committee (RSC) and the Freedom Caucus (FC). And those ideological caucuses work to define a right-conservative Republicanism. Like the Blue Dogs, their members remain part of the larger Republican caucus, unlike these four gentlemen.
The work of the U.S. House Republican Study Committee (RSC) and the Freedom Caucus (FC) is closer to what Steve Drazkowski told Brian Bakst in Renegade House members split from GOP caucus:
“It doesn’t change the fact we’re still Republican. As a matter of fact, our caucus of four is very committed to Republican ideals and values,” he said. “We’ll be working very hard to strengthen our party throughout Minnesota, strengthen party units and conservative organizations throughout the state so that we can win the election in two years instead of continuing on a course that could be very similar to the one (in November’s election) that really just took 25 percent of our Republican membership in the House.”
Like the Blue Dog Coalition, members of these ideological caucuses didn't formally split with the larger party caucus (can we stress this difference enough?). As the letter Bakst tweeted illustrates, splitting with the larger Republican House caucus is exactly what the new four-person caucus has done.
And Miller didn't seem particularly interested in Blue Dog style bridge building on November 10, when he wrote on Facebook after losing the minority leader role to Daudt:
However, I cannot accept any extreme liberal measures. All conservatives will need to work together to challenge that.
Judging from the comments on Miller's post, extreme liberal measures seem to be Governor-elect Walz's plan to raise the gas tax and the like.
For more on CMOs, visit the U.S. House Committee on Administration's page on Congressional Member and Staff Organizations. It's possible that Miller mentioned the Blue Dogs, rather than the Freedom Caucus, which is faulted for much gridlock, even while the Republicans controlled the whole of the government for the last two years.
Miller and Daudt: is there a conflict?
While Miller compares the more formal split with the creation of an ideological caucus in the U.S. House, fellow New Republican House Caucus Steve Drazkowski stressed that the break wasn't ideological , telling Bakst in Renegade House members split from GOP caucus:
Drazkowski told MPR News on Saturday that the split isn’t about ideology. He said the move is in response to infighting and a difficult working culture with the current GOP leadership. . . .
Under state law, the breakaway caucus won’t be on par with the standard House GOP and DFL. They won’t be entitled to a formal minority leader. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/2018/cite/3.099
Bluestem posted about those conflicts in Another leadership snub for Tim Miller? Anderson presented HF3719 to Ways & Means, and New Republican Caucus members support single-topic bill amendment--mostly and Not so gracious now: Tim Miller, 3 running buddies expel selves from MNHouse GOP caucus.
Back on November 12, we'd reported on Miller's challenging Daudt for the position of minority in Tim Miller gracious in minority leader bid defeat; vows to work toward reopening private prison.
That bid doesn't show up in the local newspaper's coverage; indeed, Miller tells Cherveny:
Miller said he has not had a direct conflict or arguments with Rep. Kurt Daudt, who will serve as House minority leader when the legislative session begins in January. But Miller said he has pressed for changes in the Republican caucus that he didn't feel were being addressed.
"Yes, we are caucusing separately, but this is really more about me having, I believe, the freedom to properly serve my conscious and my constituents better," he told the Tribune.
In the Minneapolis Star Tribune, J. Patrick Coolican reports in Four House Republicans break away from their own caucus to form a new one:
Four Republican members of the Minnesota House are breaking away from their caucus to form their own group, exposing a rift in the GOP and potentially altering the political dynamics at the Capitol. . . .
Miller and Munson both ran for GOP leadership posts and lost.
After reviewing the evidence, such that it is, about Miller's relationship with the larger caucus, Bluestem agrees that "this is really more about [him]."
Earlier Bluestem posts on this topic:
Another leadership snub for Tim Miller? Anderson presented HF3719 to Ways & Means
New Republican Caucus members support single-topic bill amendment--mostly
Not so gracious now: Tim Miller, 3 running buddies expel selves from MNHouse GOP caucus
Tim Miller gracious in minority leader bid defeat; vows to work toward reopening private prison
Photo: The letter announcing the formal split. It's not like congressional member organizations like the Blue Dog Dogs, where Democrats remain in the larger House Democratic Caucus.
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