After Rocky Start, GOP Leaders And Freshmen Step Up Communication

After a rocky start, the relationship between House Republican leaders and the GOP freshman class has improved in recent weeks.

With any relationship, communication is key. And there has been a lot more of it since the freshmen soundly rejected leadership’s initial budget plan.

House GOP leaders have reached out to their freshmen members by participating in weekly meetings, increasing leadership opportunities for them and hosting small sessions with the historic class.

The leadership-freshmen relationship will be tested in the coming weeks as the GOP and the White House attempt to iron out a budget agreement. House Republicans were seen as the political victors of the 2-week stopgap measure that was signed into law by President Obama because the Democratic-led Senate wholly embraced the lower chamber’s bill.

The problem for House leaders, however, is that there are some in the GOP who believe the next battle will mimic the first. Managing the expectations of the freshmen, most notably on thwarting the new healthcare reform law, will be tricky.

The class of 2010, the largest in more than six decades, has proven to be a particularly tight-knit group that believes they have a clear mandate to shrink the size of government and encourage greater private sector job growth.

Freshman Rep. Frank Guinta (R-N.H.) told The Hill that his class has met outside their weekly set meeting time, during weeks when the House is in session. And a member of the GOP leadership team often attends those closed-door meetings.

“I think we respect one another and we respect the message the country sent by sending us to Washington. As a result, we appreciate bouncing ideas off each other, we regularly also meet with leadership and veteran legislators so there is an open dialogue,” Guinta said.

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