Rowden removes 'swamp creatures' of Missouri Freedom Caucus from committee positions

In what has become an all-too-frequent occurrence of late, Missouri Senate Republicans resumed fighting with each other Tuesday, this time over Senate President Pro-Tem Caleb Rowden’s decision to strip Freedom Caucus members of their committee positions.

Prior to the start of Tuesday’s Senate session, Rowden held a press conference announcing the move, flanked by other Republican Senators.

“The beginning of the 2024 legislative session in the Senate has been nothing short of an embarrassment,” Rowden said. “A chamber designed to be occupied with civil, principled statesmen and women has been overtaken by a small group of swamp creatures who, all too often, remind me more of my children than my colleagues.”

Changes Rowden announced included stripping state Sen. Bill Eigel of his role as chair of the Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs, and Pensions, and removing state Sen. Andrew Koenig as chair of the Committee on Education and Workforce Development.

“It's disappointing to me certainly, that this action taken today by the Senate leadership, which is clearly punitive, retaliatory action, has occurred,” Eigel said.

State Sen. Rick Brattin, chair of the Missouri Freedom Caucus, lost his position as chair of the Select Committee on the Protection of Missouri Assets From Foreign Adversaries and vice chair of the Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs, and Pensions, as well as the Committee on Education and Workforce Development.

Brattin expressed frustrations that Senate leadership didn’t speak with Missouri Freedom Caucus members prior to removing them from committee positions.

“They don't want to talk with us,” Brattin said. “They want to do shows, they want to do podcasts, and they want to sit and just poke the bear, and that's what they continue to do. They are ineffective leaders. That's quite clear by their display today.”

State Sen. Denny Hoskins lost his position as chair of the Committee on Economic Development and Tax Policy. He also lost his seat on the Senate Appropriations Committee. Hoskins said he thinks it is politically motivated, as he and Rowden are both competing to be the Republican nominee for Missouri Secretary of State this year.

“Everyone knows, Senator Rowden and I are running for the same statewide position, Secretary of State,” Hoskins said. “And so Senator Rowden is using the same playbook that Joe Biden is using on President Trump on me to try and silence me and win and beat me in a statewide race by using his position of power.”

The debate over the move continued immediately in the Senate chambers when session convened Tuesday afternoon, lasting more than four hours. During this time, the senators removed from committees also discovered that they had been reassigned to parking spots further from the Missouri State Capitol Building.

“The people in this room, they can call me names. They can take my parking spots. They could take my chairmanship,” Eigel said. “They will not silence me because I don't work for them.”

More: Missouri Senate grinds to a halt as Freedom Caucus pushes for action on ballot measures

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats remained quiet during the prolonged exchange between conservative legislators. In a press release issued earlier in the day, Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo implored lawmakers to turn their focus to advancing legislation to help the people of Missouri, as the voters elected them to do.

“Today, extremist Republicans have a choice,” Rizzo said. “They can get to work protecting healthcare funding, investing in our teachers and classrooms, helping parents afford the child care they need, and passing a balanced budget. Or they can keep stumbling down the dead-end-road of personal attacks and partisan pandering. Senate Democrats will continue to move a pro-Missouri common sense agenda forward, and we invite all our colleagues to join us.”

Holding true to their promise from last week, Missouri Freedom Caucus members refused to allow gubernatorial appointments to pass once again on Tuesday. There was a glimmer of hope that the Senate would return to normal functions after a break Tuesday afternoon, but when Rowden proposed advancing the appointments, Eigel and Brattin began to filibuster once again.

Without allowing them to take up more time in the chamber, Majority Floor Leader Cindy O’Laughlin called to adjourn the session. All the Senate accomplished on Tuesday was the necessary business to prepare for Gov. Mike Parson’s State of the State address on Wednesday.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Sen. Rowden strips Missouri Freedom Caucus members of committee posts