Wednesday, June 19th, 2013

Tea Party largely frozen out of GOP transition team

By Jesse Zwick
Monday, November 08, 2010 at 4:50 pm

The plot lines in the battle for control of the soul of the Republican Party just got thicker today with the announcement by transition chair Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) of the members of his transition team. Not only did Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) not make the cut while her competitor for GOP conference chair, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), did, but the team as a whole is looking fairly un-Tea Party-friendly:

According to the AP, two of the four incoming members ([Adam] Kinzinger and [Tim] Scott) are Tea Party favorites, but they were most likely chosen for their previous legislative experience, which many of their fellow representatives-elect lack. Of the 18 current House members on the transition team, only two—Rob Bishop and Pete Sessions—are part of the Tea Party caucus. And Sessions is already more closely associated with the old guard, having served as NRCC chair.

Well-known Tea Partiers such as Michele Bachmann, Steve King, and Joe Wilson have been left out, and the transition team includes Jeb Hensarling, whom Eric Cantor and others are backing against Bachmann. Finally, transition chairman Greg Walden (who called the team “a nice cross-section of our Republican conference”) is himself relatively moderate; he even refused to say he would include a Tea Party member in the leadership when interviewed on MSNBC.

It’s pretty clear at this point that the Republican leadership is trying to keep its rowdier, Tea Party brethren at arms length. Whether new Tea Party members of Congress defer to the established pecking order or openly challenge such an affront remains to be seen.

Follow Jesse Zwick on Twitter

Comments

15 Comments

Tweets that mention Tea Party largely frozen out of GOP transition team « The Washington Independent -- Topsy.com
Pingback posted November 8, 2010 @ 5:08 pm

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Dan Lehr, David Vance, Raymond Smith, Jesse Zwick, Sharon and others. Sharon said: RT @TWI_news: Tea Party largely frozen out of GOP transition team http://bit.ly/cY6J7u [...]

World Spinner
Trackback posted November 8, 2010 @ 6:34 pm

Tea Party largely frozen out of GOP transition team « The ……

Here at World Spinner we are debating the same thing……

Where do you turn for planning a birthday party? | eventplannerca.com
Pingback posted November 8, 2010 @ 7:21 pm

[...] Tea Party largely frozen out of GOP transition team « The Washington Independent [...]

funny question? | Dirty Panties
Pingback posted November 8, 2010 @ 7:23 pm