The Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC) is a political action organization dedicated to promoting the ideals of

individual liberty Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...

limited government In political philosophy, limited government is the concept of a government limited in power. It is a key concept in the history of liberalism.Amy Gutmann, "How Limited Is Liberal Government" in Liberalism Without Illusions: Essays on Liberal The ...

and

free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any o ...

economics within the Republican Party in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. It is part of the

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

wing of the Republican Party. It also operates a political action committee, the RLC-USA PAC. The organization was founded in 1991 and has chapters in many states. In 2011, the organization hosted its National Convention in Arlington,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

. The 2013 convention was held in Austin,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and the 2015 National Convention was hosted in Nashua,

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

Issues

The RLC works within the Republican Party to influence the party to adopt the RLC's agenda. As activist Tom Heitman put it, "We're trying to reintroduce the Republican platform to the Republican Party." The RLC favors individual freedom and limited government. Specifically, the RLC favors reduced government intrusion, lower taxes, elimination of federal agencies, less regulation, a strong national defense with fewer military bases abroad, and no foreign aid. In 2010, the Republican Liberty Caucus of Texas denounced the new state Republican Party platform that supported criminalization of

sodomy Sodomy () or buggery (British English) is generally anal or oral sex between people, or sexual activity between a person and a non-human animal ( bestiality), but it may also mean any non-procreative sexual activity. Originally, the term ''so ...

and making

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

a felony.

Leadership

Endorsements

Presidential endorsements

The Republican Liberty Caucus' process for endorsing presidential candidates is described in the organization's Bylaws and Rules:

A candidate for President of the United States may be endorsed by the Caucus by a 2/3 vote of the active and voting Chartered state's executive committees. The national Secretary shall notify all Chartered states of a favorable national board proposal for endorsement and state executive officers shall inform the Secretary of the approval or denial by their executive committee within 60 days.

Since the Caucus' founding in 1991, only three candidates have reached this level of support:

Steve Forbes Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Jr. (; born July 18, 1947) is an American publishing executive and politician who is the editor-in-chief of ''Forbes'', a business magazine. He is the son of longtime ''Forbes'' publisher Malcolm Forbes and the grands ...

1996, Ron Paul in 2012 and Rand Paul in 2016. When Forbes ran again in 2000, the organization remained neutral in that primary and did not endorse another specific Republican candidate in any presidential primary until December 30, 2011 when the RLC endorsed Ron Paul for President. In 2016, his son Rand Paul was also endorsed by the RLC.

Notable 2012 endorsements

On November 2, 2011, the Republican Liberty Caucus announced its first two endorsements in the 2012 election: Barry Hinckley, ran in the Republican primary in

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but i ...

, and Brian K. Hill, ran in the Republican primary in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. The Republican nominee in Rhode Island challenged Democratic United States Senator

Sheldon Whitehouse Sheldon Whitehouse (born October 20, 1955) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Rhode Island since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States Attorney from 1993 to 1998 ...

while the Republican nominee in Connecticut ran for an open seat being vacated by independent United States Senator

Joseph Lieberman Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; born February 24, 1942) is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee for Vi ...

. *Republican Presidential Candidate

Ron Paul Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, physician and retired politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1979 to 1985, as we ...

from Texas *

Ted Cruz Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...

for U.S. Senate * Barry Hinckley of Rhode Island for U.S. Senate *U.S. Representative

Tom McClintock Thomas Miller McClintock II (; born July 10, 1956) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2009. His district stretches from the Sacramento suburbs to the outer suburbs of Fresno; it includes Yosemite National P ...

for California's Congressional District 4 *Judge Executive Thomas Massie for Kentucky's Congressional District 4 *U.S. Representative

Justin Amash Justin Amash ( ; born April 18, 1980) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2021. Originally a Republican, Amash joined the Libertarian Party in April 2020, becoming the party's first (an ...

for Michigan's Congressional District 3 * Kerry Bentivolio for Michigan's Congressional District 11 *Sheriff Richard Mack for Texas' Congressional District 21 *

Steve Stockman Stephen Ernest Stockman (born November 14, 1956) is an American politician who is a member of the Republican Party and a convicted felon. He served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 9th congressional district from 1995 to 1997 and for Texas ...

for Texas' Congressional District 36 * Karen Kwiatkowski for Virginia's Congressional District 6 * Floyd Bayne for Virginia's Congressional District 7 * Dan Halloran for New York's Congressional District 6

Notable 2014 endorsements

Matt Bevin Matthew Griswold Bevin (; born January 9, 1967) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 62nd governor of Kentucky, from 2015 to 2019. He was the third Republican elected Kentucky governor since World War II, after Ernie Fle ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

for U.S. Senate *

Milton R. Wolf Milton R. Wolf (born April 8, 1971) is an American physician. He is a Tea Party movement-aligned activist who ran against incumbent Kansas U.S. Senator Pat Roberts for the Republican Party nomination in the 2014 United States Senate election. ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to ...

for U.S. Senate * Owen Hill of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

for U.S. Senate * Lee Bright of

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = "Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = G ...

for U.S. Senate * Pat McGeehan of

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

for U.S. Senate *

Bruce Poliquin Bruce Lee Poliquin (; born November 1, 1953) is an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Maine's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. Poliquin w ...

for

Maine's 2nd congressional district Maine's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Maine. Covering , it comprises nearly 80% of the state's total land area. The district comprises most of the land area north of the Portland and Augusta metr ...

Notable 2016 endorsements

*Republican Presidential Candidate

Rand Paul Randal Howard Paul (born January 7, 1963) is an American physician and politician serving as the junior U.S. senator from Kentucky since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he is a son of former three-time presidential candidate and 12 ...

from Kentucky

Notable 2018 endorsements

* Eric Brakey of

Maine Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...

for U.S. Senate * Austin Petersen of

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

for U.S. Senate *

Nick Freitas Nicholas J. Freitas (born August 29, 1979) is an American politician. A Republican, he has been a member of the Virginia House of Delegates since 2015.Bill BarteVirginia Republican Senate candidates repeatedly attack Obama, barely mention Kain ...

for U.S. Senate

References

External links

Republican Liberty Caucus official site
{{Conservatism US footer Classical liberalism Republican Party (United States) organizations Libertarian organizations based in the United States Tea Party movement

Issues

Leadership

Endorsements

Presidential endorsements

Notable 2012 endorsements

Notable 2014 endorsements

Notable 2016 endorsements

Notable 2018 endorsements

See also

References

External links