Powerhouse and rising star of the Republican Party, Florida Congressman Byron Donalds, has announced a run for GOP Conference Chair.
Donalds is a popular Republican lawmaker from Florida.
The Republican Conference is a caucus of all Republican members in Congress. The group meets to discuss legislation, policies and positions. The Conference Chair is responsible for these meetings, for day-to-day operations of the conference as well as keeping members on-messaging.
The current Chair, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY), replaced bitter Liz Cheney in 2021 after Cheney’s meltdown.
Donalds made the announcement on Twitter saying, ” I think we should have a strong conservative in the leadership room to help guide Republicans in the 118th Congress so we can actually get America back on track.”
Congressman Donalds joined Fox News to discuss his decision saying he wants the House GOP to give more power to its rank-and file members.
“It’s one thing when you’re voting no against Nancy Pelosi … that’s actually pretty simple because those ideas are just insane,” Donalds, R-Fla., said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “But going into a majority where we have a responsibility for governing, it’s important for every member of the … conference … to have their hand in how we run things.”
“Republicans need to be consistently communicating … on the local level, the regional level and the national level,” he said. “It’s not just with the political news media. … It’s on the ‘Today’ show. We see it on ‘The View’ every single day. It’s on Comedy Central, it’s on HBO, it’s on ESPN and on Fox Sports.”
“I’m going to be a lot more outspoken internally about what we should be doing as a conference,” Donalds said about the upcoming Congress. “We’ve all worked hard. Everybody’s campaigned hard. And so the members who are duly elected by the people who sent them should be able to have their voices heard.”
“But also, just making sure that there’s that back and forth, there’s that dialog between members no matter what part of the conference they might be in, and even with the leadership,” he added. “It also builds buy-in. If everybody knows that they have kind of a hand in making the dinner, everybody feels confident.”
Donalds’ ideas mirror some points in a guide the House Freedom Caucus recently sent to all new GOP candidates about what it views as issues in the House. Donalds is a member of the Freedom Caucus.
Donalds has become a powerful voice for conservatives and has shown his willingness to push back against the radical left.