Last year’s Missouri legislative session was marred by chaos, with many blaming the far-right leaning Freedom Caucus for using stall tactics that resulted in several bills not crossing the finish line.

Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, chair of the Freedom Caucus, said that it exists to advance conservative policy. He also told Missourinet he believes that cooperation will be the theme of Senate Republicans this session.

“It’s great to see, at least with this last election cycle, you see this massive red wave with Trump, with all the DOGE that you’re seeing nationally with Elon (Musk) and Vivek (Ramaswamy) and you’re just seeing this want and desire from the constituency to get things done,” said Brattin.

The top legislative goals of the Senate Majority Caucus and the Freedom Caucus are nearly identical – public safety, education, making it harder to amend the state constitution, tax cuts, and pushing back on Amendment 3 — which overturned Missouri’s near-total abortion ban.

“We’re actually not far with what the Freedom Caucus “Magnificent Seven” agenda that we’ve released are, honestly, basically almost in line with what the new incoming governor wanted, and just the Republican Party as a whole,” Brattin explained. “So, I think people are really going to be surprised at how well and how effective we’re able to work together.”

Brattin said that he and Republican leaders plan on working together to advance conservative legislation. However, it remains to be seen if they will cooperate, or if squabbling once again breaks out on the Senate floor.

© 2025, Missourinet.

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