Michigan Republican Rep. Justin Amash took a veiled swipe at GOP leadership in an exclusive interview with The Daily Caller, calling on the Republican party to stand by fiscally conservative principles.
“I think it’s important that we continue to fight as a Republican Party for conservative principles,” Amash said. “That’s what we are supposed to stand for as a party. Unfortunately, for too long, we haven’t been standing for conservative principles. We haven’t been standing up for the Constitution.”
Amash’s remarks come at a time of intense friction between the conservative base oand GOP representatives in Washington. Speaker John Boehner recently criticized conservative groups, saying “They’re using our members, and they’re using the American people for their own goals.”
Amash, a past critic of Boehner and vocal libertarian, wouldn’t comment directly on the latest rift: Paul Teller’s ousting from his position as executive director of the Republican Study Committee.
Teller, described by supporters as a “conservative warrior,” was fired by Republican Study Committee chairman Rep. Steve Scalise on Wednesday.
Asked about the impression that there was a war going on inside of the GOP, Amash said: ” We’re going to have a big tent party, it’s going to have a lot of people in it, but if we can’t stand for fiscal conservatism, then we are going to have real problem as a party.”