The conservative House Freedom Caucus faction is not popular with a majority of congressional staff members, according to CQ Roll Call's April Capitol Insiders Survey.
Staffers from both parties say the Freedom Caucus is a negative force for Republicans, and according to the survey, among Republican staff members:
- Negative force: 71 percent.
- Positive force: 22 percent.
- Don't know: 7 percent.
Among Democratic staff members:
- Negative force: 92 percent.
- Positive force: 2 percent.
- Don't know: 6 percent.
The poll was sent out to congressional aides on April 26, and 201 responded. Of that number, 100 identified as Republicans, 94 as Democrats, and seven as independents.
"They've figured out how to use their power to move Speaker (Paul) Ryan and Majority Leader (Kevin) McCarthy," Jeffrey Taylor, managing partner of U.S. Government Relations International, who was an aide to former Indiana Rep. David M. McIntosh, told Roll Call.
The Caucus' efforts led to Ryan's health care bill being blocked, which could be another key to the group's unpopularity, the report said.
"I think it's one thing for them to be obstructionist when Democrats are in charge, but to do it when Republicans are in charge is another thing… It doesn't look good," Brendan Daly, a former spokesman for Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told Roll Call.
Seventy-two percent of the Republican staffers who responded said Democrats would gain an advantage in the 2018 midterm elections if Republicans fail to repeal Obamacare.
There are around three dozen Caucus members, and "all but two" are in favor of the revised bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, a GOP aide told the Washington Examiner.
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