House Freedom Caucus

I was curious about the approximately 40 far-right members of the US House of Representatives that are causing so much trouble for the leadership. It's the House Freedom Caucus and most of the info I found came from a few articles. The membership (other than the founders) came from the wikipedia page.

It was founded in January of 2015 by 9 members. It's an invitation only group, and now has 36 members from 23 states. They are all white men with the exception of Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Raúl Labrador (R-ID) who is Puerto Rican. Very few of them have been in the House more than 3 terms; seven of them are new to the House since January.

The founding members are:

• AZ-5 Matt Salmon, member since January 3, 2013 also 1995–2001
• FL-6 Ron DeSantis, member since January 3, 2013
• ID-1 Raúl Labrador, member since January 3, 2011
• LA-4 John Fleming, member since January 3, 2009
• MI-3 Justin Amash, member since January 3, 2011
• NC-11 Mark Meadows, member since January 3, 2013
• NJ-5 Scott Garrett, member since January 3, 2003
• OH-4 Jim Jordan, Chair, member since January 3, 2007, Chair
• SC-5 Mick Mulvaney, member since January 3, 2011

The other members are:

• AL-6 Gary Palmer, member since January 3, 2015
• AL-5 Mo Brooks, member since January 3, 2011
• AZ-6 David Schweikert, member since January 3, 2013
• AZ-4 Paul Gosar, member since January 3, 2013
• AZ-8 Trent Franks, member since January 3, 2013
• CO-4 Ken Buck, member since January 3, 2015
• FL-8 Bill Posey, member since January 3, 2013
• FL-19 Curt Clawson, member since June 25, 2014
• GA-11 Barry Loudermilk, member since January 3, 2015
• GA-10 Jody Hice, member since January 3, 2015
• IA-1 Rod Blum, member since January 3, 2015
• IN-3 Marlin Stutzman, member since, November 2, 2010
• KS-1 Tim Huelskamp, member since January 3, 2011
• MD-1 Andy Harris, member since January 3, 2011
• NM-2 Steve Pearce, member since January 3, 2011 also 2003-2009
• OK-1 Jim Bridenstine, member since January 3, 2013
• PA-12 Keith Rothfus, member since January 3, 2013
• PA-4 Scott Perry, member since January 3, 2013
• SC-3 Jeff Duncan, member since January 3, 2011
• SC-1 Mark Sanford, member since May 7, 2013 also 1994-2000
• TN-4 Scott DesJarlais, member since January 3, 2011
• TX-36 Brian Babin, member since January 3, 2015
• TX-2 Ted Poe, member since January 3, 2005
• VA-7 Dave Brat, member since November 4, 2014
• VA-9 Morgan Griffith, member since January 3, 2011
• WV-2 Alex Mooney, member since January 3, 2015
• WY-1 Cynthia Lummis, member since January 3, 2009

Two representatives have recently resigned from the Freedom Caucus:

• CA-4 Tom McClintock - Resigned on September 16, 2015, member since January 3, 2009
• WI-8 Reid Ribble - Resigned on October 9, 2015, member since January 3, 2011

The only member I had heard of was Mark Sanford, the former governor of South Carolina that disappeared in 2009 saying he was hiking the Appalachian Trail but was really in Argentina having an affair. Yeah, South Carolina elected him to the House in a special election in 2013 and then re-elected him in 2014. I didn't know the name Dave Brat (VA-7) but he's the one that primaried Eric Cantor in 2014.

Update: Here are two articles I found interesting about the Freedom Caucus.

• Meet the Right-Wing Rebels Who Overthrew John Boehner by Tim Dickinson in Rolling Stone
• The House Freedom Caucus, explained by Timothy B. Lee in Vox