My Response to Cindi Ross Scoppe’s Latest Tirade

Being the target of the Left-wing P&C tells me we're doing something right...

Cindi Scoppe’s recent op-ed, “On the SC House Freedom Caucus merry-go-round, what goes around comes around,” is an amusing exercise in projection. While she accuses the SC Freedom Caucus of engaging in “performative art,” her piece reads more like a masterclass in melodrama, cherry-picking facts and ignoring the substantive principles driving our legislative efforts.

Her disdain for the Freedom Caucus is unsurprising. After all, we represent a direct challenge to the status quo she has spent her career defending—an entrenched bureaucracy, unchecked by voters, and propped up by a coalition of moderate Republicans and Democrats.

I would’ve written a response for the Post & Courier to publish but they’ve consistently rejected every attempt I’ve made in the past. They like their echo chamber. Anyway, let’s set the record straight:

Accountability for Agency Heads

Scoppe gleefully mischaracterizes my proposed legislation, H.5227, claiming it would “strip the governor of pretty much all the power he has over state agencies.” In reality, the bill seeks to enhance accountability. In response to Leadership’s push for the creation of a Health Czar last session. Their claim was that agency heads needed more accountability, so I instructed House staff to write H 5227 and H.5228 as ways to accomplish that accountability without creating more government agencies.

Scoppe’s Left-Wing Bias on Full Display

Scoppe’s attacks aren’t rooted in genuine concern for governance; they’re ideological. Her positions align with the hard Left:

• Opposing school choice: Like clockwork, she attacks any policy that empowers parents to choose the best educational environment for their children.

• Shilling for corporate welfare: Scoppe endorsed the $1.3 billion giveaway to Scout Motors, a handout to a foreign corporation at the expense of South Carolina taxpayers.

• Opposition to protecting girls: She has opposed efforts to prevent men from using the same bathrooms and locker-rooms as girls.

When Scoppe derides the Freedom Caucus as “performative,” what she truly resents is our effectiveness in exposing and challenging her preferred policies.

Moving the Needle on Conservative Policies

Despite Scoppe’s caricature of the Freedom Caucus as a band of disruptors, our legislative efforts are grounded in conservative principles: smaller government, lower taxes, and more freedom.

Consider the bills she mocks:

• H.3282, requiring the lieutenant governor to oversee the Department of Transportation, decentralizes authority and ensures oversight.

• H.3528, allowing bills with majority support to bypass committee bottlenecks, empowers the legislature to reflect the will of the people rather than the whims of committee chairs.

• H.3649, which calls for U.S. senators to answer to the state legislature, reasserts South Carolina’s voice in Washington and holds federal officials accountable to the people they represent.

Scoppe dismisses these proposals as stunts, but her condescension betrays a deeper fear: the Freedom Caucus is forcing debates that the establishment and their allies in the media would rather avoid. Agitation from SCFC members has been what has instigated legislative accomplishments like: Save Women’s Sports, Constitutional Carry, Banning Sterilization of Kids, and the Heartbeat Bill.

Why We’re Constantly Attacked

The Freedom Caucus is a threat to the system Scoppe defends. When bureaucrats, mainstream media, the Left, and moderate Republicans attack us, it’s not because we’re irrelevant; it’s because we’re winning. From fighting corporate welfare to opposing cronyism in the budget, we’re making progress—and they hate it.

Scoppe’s op-ed is just the latest chapter in the media’s effort to marginalize us. But South Carolinians see through these attacks. They understand that true reform requires disrupting the cozy relationships that keep the status quo in place.

The SC Freedom Caucus will continue fighting for smaller government, greater accountability, and the conservative principles our constituents demand—no matter how many ink-stained tantrums Scoppe throws.

Representative Jordan Pace
Chairman, South Carolina House Freedom Caucus