By Dan Nowicki
The Arizona Republic
U.S. Rep. David Schweikert and two other conservative Republicans kicked off high-powered congressional committees last week are demanding answers from House Speaker John Boehner.
In a letter dated Friday, Schweikert, R-Ariz., and U.S. Reps. Justin Amash, R-Mich., and Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan., called on Boehner, R-Ohio, to provide by the close of business on Monday “a full and complete written explanation of the rationale for removing us from our current committee assignments, including any ‘scorecards’ presented to the (Republican) Steering Committee to justify our removals.”
Schweikert, who last month was reelected to his second House term, lost his seat on the prestigious House Financial Services Committee. Amash and Huelskamp were dropped from the House Budget Committee. Conservative groups such as the Club for Growth and FreedomWorks have expressed outrage over the moves, which critics have characterized as a “purge” of fiscal conservatives who refused to fall in line behind more moderate GOP House leaders.