Members of the House Freedom Caucus are facing internal concerns about its future after the ouster of Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) that has prompted at least one member to reconsider membership. 

Several members said they disagreed with Davidson’s removal, arguing the group should not make a practice of ejecting its members. At least four members have been removed from the group since last March, including Davidson, former Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), and Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Randy Weber (R-TX).

“That was a big mistake,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who served as the group’s first chairman after the caucus was founded in 2015, said of Monday night’s vote. 

When asked about whether the Freedom Caucus is straying from its original mission, the Ohio Republican told the Washington Examiner: “I have concerns.” 

The group voted to oust Davidson from its ranks during a closed-door meeting on Monday night after the Ohio Republican became the only caucus member to endorse a primary challenger to Chairman Bob Good (R-VA). The vote angered at least one member of the group, Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX), who said he would quit due to disagreements with how the group has evolved over the last few years. 

“I respect the HFC and have been aligned with their conservative positions. I want to grow the organization and encourage more members to join,” Nehls said in a statement on Monday. “With tonight’s vote, it was clear that is not their objective. I value what the HFC brings to the table, and I can assure them I will continue to support their conservative agenda. I just won’t be a member.”

The caucus was founded as a “smaller, more cohesive, more agile, and more active” group of Republicans, according to Jordan at the time. Members have closely aligned with former President Donald Trump, and the group consists of many of his staunch allies on Capitol Hill. 

But that dynamic experienced a slight shift when the caucus elected Good as its chairman in January. 

Good had angered many of his colleagues after endorsing Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) for the presidential nomination over Trump, prompting many to accuse him of abandoning the former president. Good later switched his endorsement to Trump after DeSantis suspended his campaign, but that wasn’t enough to stop the former president from endorsing Virginia state Sen. John McGuire, who narrowly defeated Good in the state’s primary last month.

Davidson was the only House Freedom Caucus member to endorse McGuire’s bid, which the Ohio Republican said Good and other members considered “an attack on them or the group.”

“While that was not my intent, their opposition to me was intended,” Davidson said in a statement. 

“I am not happy, but very content,” he said of his ouster. “Congress will soon be a better place without Bob Good, as will Freedom Caucus.”

Other Republicans, even those outside of the Freedom Caucus, have considered Good’s likely exit from Congress a welcome development.

“Their loss!” Greene (R-GA), a previous member of the House Freedom Caucus before her own ouster last year, posted on X. “Back stabbing Bob Good and the Never Trump freedom caucus members are the problem. They have destroyed freedom caucus and have made it ineffective. In doing, so they have made our entire Republican majority ineffective.”

Greene has previously criticized Good’s leadership, arguing the chairman “infected” the caucus with “misguided” principles. 

“If the Freedom Caucus is going to continue,” she told the Washington Examiner last month, “I think they’ve got a bit of an identity crisis to figure out, and they need to figure out who they are.”

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Greene said she spoke with Nehls after his decision to leave, telling the Texas Republican he “did the right thing by resigning.” 

Good did not comment on Davidson’s removal or Nehls’s departure, and the chairman declined to answer questions on whether there are concerns other members may leave the group in protest.