The conservative House Freedom Caucus has planned a secret meeting on Wednesday to plan what to do after the November 8 elections, Politico reports.
One of the topics could be whether to continue its support for House Speaker Paul Ryan, who had to court the group for support a year ago after the ouster of Speaker John Boehner.
Ryan intends to seek another term as speaker, but some members of the Freedom Caucus have privately considered backing someone else, according to Politico. Other members, however, want to stick with the Wisconsinite because he has made efforts to include the caucus in policy planning.
The caucus also wants to delay party leadership elections until after the lame-duck session to see how Ryan handles year-end spending issues. That effort is likely to fail, Politico notes.
The caucus also is unhappy with the leadership's plan to end the "motion to vacate," which allows a single member to force a vote to oust a speaker. The group says the change would take away power from rank-and-file members.