Loyalty Oath Has Made a Return to the House Republican Caucus

Read the New Rule That Stifles Support for Anyone Willing to Challenge an Incumbent

The House Republican Caucus is back with a new loyalty oath that has more teeth than the last one and it is not going over well with the SC House Freedom Caucus. Before we dive into the latest updates, let’s take a quick refresher on the old loyalty oath:

Background: The Old Loyalty Oath

At the end of 2022, the South Carolina Republican House Caucus instituted a loyalty oath that had to be signed by any Republican representative of they wanted to wanted to join the caucus. This loyalty oath included a clause that barred members from posting the voting board and engaging in any campaign activities against a fellow republican incumbent (known as rule 16.) Some Freedom Caucus members refused to sign this loyalty oath and were kicked out of the House GOP Caucus by January 18th, 2023. One of these members were offered a chance to join after being kicked out…if he paid the House GOP $5,000 of course.

A few months later, the SC GOP instituted their own version of the loyalty oath (including similar language) that South Carolinians had to abide by if they wanted to be a part of the South Carolina Republican Party.

Current: The New Loyalty Oath

Last week, this old loyalty oath was sent to the incoming House Republican freshman that were just elected to sign if they wanted to attend the first Republican Caucus meeting.

However, there is a new loyalty oath being circulated that has even more additions than the last. Check out the details of this new rule 16:

16. “Members shall treat all Republican Caucus members in a respectful manner with proper decorum at caucus meetings and events. To foster party unity and discourage intra-party conflicts, a member of the Republican Caucus shall not financially support, participate in, or otherwise assist in the campaign of an opponent against another member of the Republican Caucus in good standing nor may a member of the Republican Caucus be a member of a legislative special interest caucus that financially supports, participates in, or otherwise assists in the campaign of an opponent against another member of the Republican Caucus in good standing. The period for determining whether a legislative special interest caucus has engaged in such activity is the current and immediately preceding legislative sessions of the South Carolina General Assembly.”

To be a member of the Republican House Caucus, not only do you have to support all current Republican incumbents…but you are not allowed to be a part of any “legislative special interest caucus” that support—in any way—a challenger of a Republican incumbent.

Where Does This Put Other Caucuses?

This not only seems targeted at the Freedom Caucus, but may affect other caucuses as well. I spoke to Rep. John McCravy, the chair of the House Family Caucus, to get his take on this new rule and the issues these Republican Caucus rules have created.

“As a family caucus, we have not discussed that [rule 16]. As a family caucus, our objective is to support conservative legislation that will be positive for the family, that will be pro-life, that will help our children, and be supportive for the family. There has been no discussion of these political factions. The family caucus is not involved in that.”

When asked if the family caucus would consider supporting a challenger that may be more pro-life than current incumbents, McCravy stated, “I don’t foresee doing that, not right now at least in the House Republican Caucus.”

When asked about his thoughts on the disagreement between the Freedom Caucus and Republican Caucus, McCravy expressed his concern: “the division is not healthy for any caucus or either caucus. I would like to see language that would allow everyone to participate in the Republican caucus and I hope we can work towards that.” McCravy continued, “Ideologically I don’t think theres much difference between the Freedom Caucus and the Republican Caucus, we are all conservatives and believe in the same things. The difference is in the political world and that’s where the rub is.”

Who Should Dictate to Our Elected Officials?

It seems that the House Republican Caucus would rather have mindless robots as legislators instead of leaders that hold each other accountable for their words, actions, and votes. It is imperative for our elected officials to speak, act, and vote according to basic morality and their constituents instead of what is dictated by a caucus or politician. Will the Republican establishment continue to stick their heads in the sand to ignore the voice of the people? It’s starting to seem that way.