Your SC politics briefing
Welcome to your weekly South Carolina politics briefing, a newsletter curated by The State’s politics and government team.
What happens in the South Carolina House Republican Caucus certainly is not staying in caucus.
A long brewing disagreement between House Republicans and the newly installed House Freedom Caucus was on full display Thursday, as members of the more conservative branch of the party attempted to amend a spending bill several times in their hopes, they said, to bring more transparency to what the Legislature does and where money goes.
But to fully understand how we got to Thursday’s floor drama, you have to understand what’s been going on behind closed doors.
House Republicans have been split into factions over the last several months, particularly after the 2020 election when more conservative legislators were elected to the lower chamber and Republicans grew their majority. And with the newly installed House Freedom Caucus, those factions have been further split, with the more conservative members arguing that House Republicans don’t work hard enough to pass conservative legislation. (The gun debate a year ago is a perfect example.)
The House Republican Caucus would argue the Freedom Caucus are nothing more than obstructionists, who want to turn Columbia into D.C. at the expense of legislative accomplishments.
What sent House Republicans particularly over the edge, however, is what happened this past June, when Lexington Rep. RJ May’s political consulting firm was hired to run the campaign of a candidate seeking to unseat May’s colleague, Spartanburg Rep. Travis Moore. Another lawmaker, Lexington Rep. Ryan McCabe, recorded a robocall also on behalf of the candidate. Moore won his primary.
House Republicans were not pleased, and new caucus rules were drafted in hopes of preventing that effort again. Sign the rules, you’re in the GOP Caucus. Don’t sign them? Well, that’s your choice and until you do, you can’t caucus, according to their rationale.
A group of House Freedom Caucus members have refused to sign the rules, what they call a “loyalty pledge/oath.” One news outlet for weeks has been reporting that number is around 20. And, without signing the rules, the two factions have been in a standoff.
Here’s where this ties into Thursday. Here’s what we know, courtesy of reporters actually on the ground who talked to either side:
▪ House Republican Caucus says negotiations are ongoing with the House Freedom Caucus but, for now, members can’t caucus with them until they sign the rules
▪ At least four House Freedom Caucus members have actually signed the rules, which means reports of 20 is not entirely accurate. The rules were released by the House Republican Caucus Thursday after repeated requests by reporters. The rules have been signed by more than 70 members, House Majority Leader Davey Hiott says. (There are 88 House Republicans to 36 Democrats.)
▪ Rep. Adam Morgan, who chairs the House Freedom Caucus, says he considers himself a good standing member of the House Republican Caucus, but he has not signed the rules. Morgan refused to tell reporters whether members who signed the rules will stay in the House Freedom Caucus, and declined repeatedly to say where negotiations stand.
Tying this all together, the standoff is likely to continue. Does it impact debates? Probably. Will this affect passing policy that actually affects South Carolina and will this mean more Republicans will get primary challenged in June 2024? That’s the question.
House Republicans, who have boasted the most conservative agenda this year, for now have the majority.
And, as a reminder, this week was only the second week of session. We have months to go.
So, stay tuned.
SC Supreme Court will be all-male bench
Two female judges vying to succeed the sole woman on the South Carolina Supreme Court have withdrawn their bids, putting Judge Gary Hill of Greenville on track to win election to the state’s high court next month.
Judges Aphrodite Konduros, 63, of Simpsonville, and Stephanie Pendarvis McDonald, 53, of Charleston, on Tuesday submitted letters withdrawing their bids, confirmed an attorney for the Judicial Merit Selection Commission, which screens judicial candidates.
Tuesday was the same day judicial candidates were allowed to seek pledges of support from the 170 lawmakers who elect them. Before then, candidates could not ask for lawmakers’ commitments. All three judges sit on the SC Court of Appeals, the intermediate court between trial courts and the state Supreme Court.
The South Carolina Supreme Court has been thrust into the spotlight after three of the high court’s five justices earlier this month ruled the state’s six-week abortion ban unconstitutional, deciding it violated the state constitutional right to privacy.
Hill, on track to win election to the court Feb. 1, would succeed Justice Kaye Hearn, the only woman on the state Supreme Court.
Buzz Bites
▪ South Carolina lawmakers advanced legislation this week to, one, restart executions by allowing companies that produce and manufacture drugs for lethal injection to be “shielded” from public knowledge, and a bill to protect injury victims in settlements. Both bills passed out of Senate subcommittees.
▪ Former President Donald Trump will be joined by two high-profile South Carolina supporters — US Sen. Lindsey Graham and Gov. Henry McMaster — at his first public 2024 presidential campaign event in the early voting state Jan. 28.
▪ Former SC Gov. Nikki Haley continued on Thursday to tease a presidential run, telling Fox News the country needs to go in a new direction and that she can be that leader. “We’re leaning in a big way. We’re focused on it. Stay tuned. It will be fun,” she said.
▪ US Rep. Jim Clyburn told CBS News he expects President Joe Biden to run for reelection in 2024.
▪ Richland 2 Superintendent Baron Davis resigned Tuesday after a nearly six-hour, closed-door meeting of the school board. The board voted unanimously to accept Davis’ resignation. He had been superintendent of the northeast Richland County school district since 2017. The board later voted to appoint Nancy Gregory, the district’s chief academic officer, to the interim position.
▪ As a new state legislative session in Columbia begins, members of South Carolina’s LGBTQ+ community are bracing for fights over a slew of bills they say would discriminate against them.
▪ South Carolina legislators appear to prioritize protecting vulnerable residents’ financial futures in light of a McClatchy investigation. A bill to comprehensively reform the state’s Structured Settlement Protection Act passed its first hurdle Wednesday after members of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee unanimously moved it forward.
▪ University of South Carolina and Clemson University football fans shared equal frustration last month as both headed down Interstate 95 toward their respective bowl games in Jacksonville and Miami and were caught by the congested, bottlenecked highway. It got the attention of state lawmakers.
▪ SC Gov. Henry McMaster has vowed to protect Pritchard’s Island and keep it in state hands. Now, lawmakers will decide to spend more than $1 million to do just that.
▪ A federal judge sentenced a Charleston County man to serve 21 days in jail for his involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
▪ Weeks before the Jan. 23 start of one of South Carolina’s biggest murder trials — when a jury will decide whether disgraced lawyer Alex Murdaugh is guilty of murdering his wife and son — the S.C. Attorney General’s Office has hired a veteran homicide prosecutor, John Meadors.
▪ US Rep. Bennie Thompson urged hundreds of South Carolinians Monday to honor Martin Luther King Jr. not just by being “a spectator, you got to participate.” It was the first year King Day at the Dome at the State House returned in person since COVID.
▪ Arthur Ravenel Jr., a former Lowcountry congressman and South Carolina legislator whose name is attached to Charleston’s most iconic bridge, died Jan. 16, his family announced. He was 95.
Mark your calendar
Jan. 23
SC Education Oversight’s academic standards and assessments subcommittee, 10 a.m.
Jan. 25
Gov. Henry McMaster delivers the annual State of the State address, 7 p.m.
Jan. 26
SC Senate Family and Veterans’ Services panel to discuss state flag bill, 9 a.m.
Feb. 1
Legislature votes on Supreme Court justice, university boards
Feb. 2/3
Democratic National Committee meets to decide presidential primary calendar
March 13
SC House begins budget debate
March 20-24
SC House goes on furlough
April 10-14
SC House goes on furlough
Before we adjourn
Alex Murdaugh, the disgraced former Hampton attorney whose accused of shooting his wife and youngest son to death in June 2021, will stand trial starting Monday, beginning with jury selection.
Murdaugh is accused of shooting his wife and son to death on the family’s Colleton County estate in 2021.
The State will have live coverage every day of the trial, which is scheduled for three weeks, Jan. 23-Feb. 10, for now.
To follow along with The State’s live coverage of the murder trial from the courtroom, sign up for our limited series newsletter.
Pulling the newsletter together this week was Maayan Schechter (My-yahn Schek-ter), senior editor of the The State’s politics and state government team. You can keep up with her on Twitter and send her tips on Twitter at @MaayanSchechter or by email mschechter@thestate.com.
To stay on top of South Carolina politics and election news, you can chat with us on Facebook, email us tips and follow our stories at scpolitics.com.
