House Conservatives Back Webster

Reuters reports that House conservatives are supporting Congressman Daniel Webster as the next Speaker unless they see major changes in the way the House of Representatives is run.

The Freedom Caucus members said the decision to support Webster on Thursday does not bind them to vote as a bloc for the Florida conservative in the full-House vote. They will reserve judgment until they hear from the winner of Thursday’s ballot.

“Our intention is to go all the way to the floor (with Webster) unless real changes are made in how the House is run,” Representative Raul Labrador told reporters after the group met on Wednesday.

Labrador said more than 30 of the group’s members voted for Webster, meeting its 80 percent threshold for policy decisions.

Webster, 66, was first elected to Congress in the Tea Party wave of 2010 and was speaker of the Florida House of Representatives in the 1990s. Freedom Caucus members said he was best positioned to make the changes they want, with committees given more power over legislation and fewer backroom deals pushed onto the floor by their leaders.