Kiley says he won’t caucus with GOP next year if reelected

Independent Rep. Kevin Kiley (Calif.), a former Republican, said he will not caucus with Republicans next year if he wins reelection.

“Congressman Kiley, much has been made about your decision to switch from Republican to independent next year. Are you still going to caucus with Republicans?” Semafor’s Nicholas Wu asked the California representative at a Wednesday event for the outlet.

“No. I’m working on changing the rules of the House to get rid of this crazy policy where you have to be formally affiliated with one caucus or the other simply to get committee seats,” Kiley responded.

“And so, I’m an independent member now, and yet the rules of the House force me to say, ‘Okay, as a formality, for the purposes of committee assignments, I’m going to conference with one side or the other,’” he added.

Kiley is currently caucusing with the House Republicans, but in March he announced that he would formally leave the GOP to become an independent.

The Golden State lawmaker had announced a few days prior that he would make a midterm reelection bid as an independent, but he accelerated the process shortly after, saying he was going to file a letter with the House clerk immediately to change his party identification.

“I will be the sole independent member of the House of Representatives,” Kiley told reporters in a virtual press conference at the time. “We’re going to be submitting the letter to the clerk today.”

Kiley has said his decision to leave the GOP was based in his disgust with the gerrymandering battle that’s raging around the country, with legislators in red and blue states racing to redraw their maps for partisan advantage in the midterms.

Kiley is set for a showdown in November against Democratic challenger Richard Pan for California’s 6th Congressional District.

He faces a risky race, with nonpartisan handicapper Cook Political Report placing his race in the solidly Democratic column.