[1][2][3][4][5] The caucus was formed in January 2015 by a group of conservatives and Tea Party movement members, with the aim of pushing the Republican leadership to the right.

[10][11] The hardline conservative group favors social conservatism and small government, along with right-wing populist beliefs such as opposition to immigration reform.

The founding members who constituted the first board of directors for the new caucus were Republican representatives Scott Garrett of New Jersey, Jim Jordan of Ohio, John Fleming of Louisiana, Matt Salmon of Arizona, Justin Amash of Michigan, Raúl Labrador of Idaho, Mulvaney of South Carolina, Ron DeSantis of Florida and Mark Meadows of North Carolina.

"[28][30] During the crisis over the funding of the Department of Homeland Security in early 2015, the caucus offered four plans for resolution, but all were rejected by the Republican leadership.

[32][36][37][38] After Boehner resigned as speaker, Kevin McCarthy, the House majority leader, was initially the lead contender to succeed him, but the Freedom Caucus withheld its support.

[39] However, McCarthy withdrew from the race on October 8, 2015, after appearing to suggest that the Benghazi investigation's purpose had been to lower the approval ratings of Hillary Clinton.

[40][41] On the same day as McCarthy's withdrawal, Reid Ribble resigned from the Freedom Caucus saying he had joined to promote certain policies and could not support the role that it was playing in the leadership race.

[42] On October 20, 2015, Paul Ryan announced that his bid for the speaker of the United States House of Representatives was contingent on an official endorsement by the Freedom Caucus.

[51][52][53] Two days later, President Donald Trump publicly criticized the Freedom Caucus and other right-wing groups, such as the Club for Growth and Heritage Action, that opposed the bill.

Trump tweeted: "Democrats are smiling in D.C. that the Freedom Caucus, with the help of Club For Growth and Heritage, have saved Planned Parenthood & Obamacare!

[59] In April 2018, Trump described three caucus members – Meadows, Jim Jordan, and Ron DeSantis – as "absolute warriors" for his defense during the course of the Special Counsel investigation.

[60] In May 2019, the Freedom Caucus officially condemned one of its founding members, Justin Amash, after he called for the impeachment of President Trump over the Trump–Ukraine scandal.

[66] Freedom Caucus members have called on Liz Cheney to resign as Chair of the House Republican Conference, because of her vocal criticism of Trump's foreign policy, response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and use of social media,[67] leading to her firing May 12, 2021, and replacement by Elise Stefanik two days later.

In early December 2020, amid pressure from Trump on congressional Republicans to help him subvert the election outcome, two dozen House Republicans, including many Freedom Caucus members, sent a letter to Trump asking him to order his Attorney General, William P. Barr, to appoint a Justice Department special counsel to investigate supposed election "irregularities", even though Barr had previously acknowledged that there was no evidence justifying such a step.

[69] Several Freedom Caucus members met with officials at Trump's White House in December 2020, discussing ways to overturn the election results during the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count.

Senior members of the Freedom Caucus reportedly reacted with "fury" to the proposal, with Ken Buck publicly denouncing it.

[76] Later, a faction emerged of Trump loyalists within the Freedom Caucus known as the 'MAGA Squad', which included Gosar, Greene, Gaetz, Madison Cawthorn, Louie Gohmert, Mo Brooks, Andy Biggs, Scott Perry, and Lauren Boebert.

The Freedom Caucus adopted a formal position urging Senate Republicans to block the bill, and Perry later voted against its final passage.

[92] These included making it easier to oust a speaker by reviving the motion to vacate the chair; allowing ten percent of the Republican conference to force a vote on any amendment, thus reducing the speaker's control over legislation; and codifying the Hastert rule ("majority-of-the-majority" rule), which would block all legislation except those supported by a majority of House Republicans.

[96] McCarthy ran with the endorsement of other Freedom Caucus members, such as vice chair Jim Jordan,[97] David Schweikert,[98] and Marjorie Taylor Greene.

[95] In December 2022, seven hardline Republicans, including Freedom Caucus chairperson Scott Perry and several members of the caucus, issued a letter demanding certain commitments from a speaker; the letter repeated many demands that the group had made in summer 2022, including securing an increase in Freedom Caucus representation in committee chairpersonships and in the House Rules Committee; barring the House Republican leadership and House Republican leadership PACs from getting involved in primaries (as McCarthy has done); and restoring the motion to vacate the chair.

[106] After the contested House Speaker election, Marjorie Taylor Greene broke with the caucus's positions and aligned herself with McCarthy.

On June 21, 2023, Greene engaged in a heated conversation with fellow caucus member Lauren Boebert on the House floor, in which the former called the latter a "little bitch.

[113] On September 29, Politico reported that Representative Matt Gaetz had reached out to Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal, among other Democrats about removing McCarthy.

[114] The following day, hours before a shutdown was expected to occur, the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan continuing resolution to fund the government through November 17.

[119] The chair of the Freedom Caucus, Bob Good, faced backlash for voting to remove Kevin McCarthy and endorsing Ron DeSantis in the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries.

"[135] The caucus acts as a bloc, with decisions that are supported by 80 percent made binding on all of its members, which has strengthened its influence among House Republicans.