In a House GOP Conference that’s been marked by division and legislative paralysis for the past two years, the Republican Governance Group says it’s time to get stuff done and embrace compromise.
While the firebrands in the Freedom Caucus draw the most attention, the governance group – whose 44 members span the ideological spectrum within the Republican Party – is seeking to play a key role in implementing President-elect Donald Trump’s legislative agenda, said Rep. David Valadao, the new chair of RG2, as the group is known.
“We want to govern,’’ said Valadao, who represents a battleground district in California’s Central Valley. “I mean, it’s in the name.”
The group’s members are united less by a singular political vision than a determination to shape legislation that’s rooted in pragmatism.
“We’re not grandstanders, we’re more team players,’’ said Rep. Carlos Gimenez, who represents the southernmost tip of Florida and, along with California Rep. Young Kim, serves as the group’s vice chair. “We’re solid conservatives … [but] we are not that group that you’re going to hear from every day, like some other caucuses.”
As stalwarts of what used to be called the Republican Party’s governing wing, the group intends to raise its profile in the new Congress. In recent weeks, RG2 members have met with a top official from the incoming Trump administration, as well as Speaker Mike Johnson and members of his staff, to discuss strategy for the upcoming budget reconciliation bill.
“Our goals are the same as President Trump’s goals,” Gimenez said. “Are there details that might [lead] to some differences of opinion within the conference? Yeah, and our goal is to make sure that … those opinions are heard.”
Given the GOP’s governing trifecta in Washington, expectations are set for major legislative victories, in sharp contrast to dysfunction of the past two years. But already, Republicans are divided over the best approach to a filibuster-proof budget package. Trump initially called for “one big beautiful bill” but has expressed openness to two measures. There also doesn’t seem to be agreement yet on the right strategy among Hill Republicans, who’ve set an ambitious reconciliation timeline and also have to contend with funding the government past March 14 and extending the debt limit.
Valadao said RG2, formerly known as the Tuesday Group, hopes to play a key role in building coalitions and educating members in a chamber where Republicans hold only a paper-thin majority.
“My goal is for the president to be successful, for Congress to be successful, and move the country in the right direction,” he said. “And right now tax policy is at the forefront, lowering … inflation is at the forefront. These things have a direct impact on the American people.”
Valadao is one of just two remaining House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for “incitement of an insurrection” after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. (The other, Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington state, is also a member of RG2.)
Valadao dismissed questions about how his impeachment vote affects his relationship with Trump.
“The country has moved on from this,” the congressman said. “I don’t see any reason to be dwelling in the past.”
Centrist origins
The Republican Governance Group began as the Tuesday Lunch Bunch, a caucus of centrists formed following the “Republican Revolution” of 1994, when the party led by Newt Gingrich gained 54 seats for the House majority.
“Over time, it became a little less moderate,’’ recalled former Rep. Charlie Dent, a moderate Republican from Pennsylvania who served as the group’s chair.
The group is one of five major ideological caucuses that House GOP leaders have dubbed the “five families,” a reference to the Five Families of the New York Mafia.
RG2 doesn’t have the governance lane to itself: The self-described “pragmatic conservatives” of the Republican Main Street Caucus, with which it shares many of the same members, are also poised to play a significant role in advancing Trump’s agenda.
Rounding out the list are the Republican Study Committee, the largest of the “five families”; the Freedom Caucus, some of whose members have long proved a thorn in leadership’s side; and the Problem Solvers Caucus, whose roster is split between Republicans and Democrats.
RG2’s current membership represents a “broad” range of views and geographic backgrounds, Valadao said.
“Some from some pretty moderate districts to some to very conservative districts,” he said.
They include members such as Mike Lawler of New York, Don Bacon of Nebraska and Juan Ciscomani of Arizona, whose seats have been top Democratic targets in recent cycles, and those from deep-red territory such as Arkansas’ Steve Womack, Florida’s John Rutherford and Ohio’s Michael Rulli.
Freshman lawmakers who’ve joined the group this year range from North Dakota Rep. Julie Fedorchak, whose at-large district backed Trump by 37 points last fall, to Pennsylvania’s Rob Bresnahan Jr. and Colorado’s Gabe Evans, who unseated Democratic incumbents in closely fought races.
“A lot of our members are the ones that make the majority,’’ Gimenez said. “They know how they need to represent their districts, and so their views have to be championed.”
A policy that might be popular in the reddest reaches of Texas may be a tough sell for a GOP member from California, Gimenez said. “So we need to find a solution to that. We want to compromise. We know that we’re not going to get everything we want.”
Dent said the group’s members tend to be “the team players … the workhorses who aren’t obsessed with social media. … These are not the folks who are the performative members, they’re results-oriented.”
But the group’s heightened profile also presents political risks, especially for those who hail from purple districts, the former congressman said.
Dent was a part of the group during the first two years of Trump’s first term and weathered the battle over repealing the 2010 health care law known as the Affordable Care Act, an effort that was ultimately blocked in the Senate in 2017.
“I was there for part of the first two years of the Trump administration, and obviously I was not very supportive,’’ said Dent, who retired after the 2018 midterms.
In those elections, several members of the group, including Valadao, lost their seats as Democrats rode the so-called blue wave to the House majority. Dent’s Lehigh Valley district also flipped that year. Valadao won back his seat in 2020.
“They’re going to be under tremendous pressure to support the president,” Dent said of vulnerable RG2 members. “They’ll probably need to find separation from him on some issues because they represent … districts where he did not perform as well.’’
Lindsey McPherson contributed to this report.
The post Republican Governance Group wants to live up to its name appeared first on Roll Call.
