House Freedom Caucus Puts Together A FART Team And That Is A Real Thing And Not A Joke

In what, incredibly, is a real thing and not a joke made up by a "#Resistance" memer, the House Freedom Caucus, which includes controversial far-right firebrands like Lauren Boebert, Paul Gosar and Jim Jordan, has put together a squad it's dubbed "FART" — shorthand for "Floor Action Response Team."

Politico reporter Olivia Beavers broke the story this afternoon. According to the report, members of "FART" are tasked with taking shifts to monitor the House floor to make sure establishment-minded Republicans don't attempt to stealthily make changes that can curb the Freedom Caucus' influence in Congress.

These include removing Freedom Caucus members from the rules committee that preps bills for debate in the House and raising the threshold of the requirements to force a vote on ousting the Speaker.

After the 2022 midterms, Kevin McCarthy made several concessions to far-right members of Congress to earn their vote in the House Speaker election. The concession that turned out to be his downfall was allowing it so that one member of Congress could force a vote on ousting him.

Later in 2023, McCarthy was ousted after a call to remove him was brought forward by an irritated Matt Gaetz. Gaetz, some of his far-right colleagues, and all the Democrats in Congress ultimately voted to remove Kevin McCarthy.

Some establishment-minded Republicans, known as the "Main Street" group, are entreating new speaker Mike Johnson to re-raise the threshold needed to bring forth a motion to vacate the Speaker, believing the ever-looming threat of ousting makes it impossible for Johnson to do his job.

To make sure this doesn't happen, members of the "FART" squad are reportedly wafting around the floor of Congress to make sure no smelly deals are made.

Understandably, social media has had a field day joking and making memes about the Freedom Caucus' new "FART" patrol.

As of now, it's unknown who came up with the idea of "FART," but if reporters are looking for the person who dealt it, it would be wise to first investigate the person who smelt it.