WASHINGTON — Rep. Kevin Kiley, who ditched the GOP earlier this month, left the door open to caucusing with the Democrats at some point in the future as Republicans grapple with a fragile majority.
Kiley (I-Calif.), who is attempting to regain his committee assignments following his switcheroo, has committed to caucusing with Republicans until the end of his current term — but is wide open as to what he’ll do after that.
“For the remainder of this term, yes,” Kiley said on SiriusXM’s “Straight Shooter with Stephen A” on Wednesday.
“Because that is the way the rules are set up right now, is that essentially to be a fully functioning member of the House, you have to caucus with one of the two parties,” he added. “And since that’s how I was elected at the beginning of this term, I think that makes sense.”
Republicans currently have 217 House seats as well as Kiley’s compared to the Democrats’ 214 seats. Three remain vacant.
“I think that if you’re going to be independent, then you shouldn’t prejudge these things, right?” Kiley said when asked about leaving open the possibility of caucusing with Democrats.
“When it comes to the new term, who I’m going to caucus with … who I’m going to vote for for speaker — I think I’ll look at it at the time and say, all right, what is going to be best for the folks that I represent,” he added. “I’ll make that decision at the time.”
Committee assignments, where members of Congress do the bulk of their legislative work, are determined by party steering committees and, in a few cases, party leadership.
Kiley is the first independent in the House since 2019, when former Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan left the GOP. The Senate has two independent lawmakers who caucus with Democrats — Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine.
“In practice, it actually is a reflection of the way I’ve generally approached my job, is that, regardless of my party label I’ve always said I’m going to be an independent voice for my district,” Kiley said of his move to be independent.
“So I think that this new designation is simply a reflection of that philosophy that I’ve had all along. And hopefully, maybe it’ll inspire some others to take the same approach.”
There’s a risk that the GOP could lose its ultra-slim majority before the midterms. President Trump let it slip this week that Rep. Neal Dunn (R-Fla.) had been in danger of dying by June due to his terminal diagnosis. A recent medical operation, however, has given the Florida Republican “a new lease on life,” according to the president.
Kiley’s ditching of the Republican Party comes in the context of Democratic redistricting in California aimed at offsetting changes to the congressional map in Texas to boost Republicans.
The mid-decade redistricting effort in California forced Kiley, who currently represents the Golden State’s Third Congressional District, into the Sixth District, which he filed for just last week.
In the newly reconfigured Sixth District, Kiley is poised to face a bruising reelection battle with Democrats like Richard Pan and Thien Ho vying for it.
Kiley had also clashed with GOP leadership repeatedly, including with his criticism of the decision to keep the House out of session during the 43-day-long government shutdown.
