JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Senate’s top leader announced Tuesday that he has stripped several state senators from committee assignments.

Caleb Rowden, Senate President Pro Tem, announced several changes to committee assignments during a news conference Tuesday at the state capitol.

Rowden says members of the “Chaos Caucus,” a group of lawmakers more formally known as the “Freedom Caucus,” have “chosen to use the Missouri Senate as a place to try and salvage their languishing statewide campaigns and intentionally destroy the institution in an effort to claim the game is rigged against them.”

According to Rowden, changes include the following…

Sen. Denny Hoskins (R-Warresnburg) was removed as Chair of the Committee on Economic Development and Tax Policy and from the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Sen. Rick Brattin (R-Harrisonville) was removed as Vice-Chair of the Committee on Education and Workforce Development, the Vice-Chair of the Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs, and Pensions and as Chair of the Select Committee on the Protection of Missouri Assets From Foreign Adversaries.

Sen. Andrew Koenig (R-St. Louis County) was removed as Chair of the Committee on Education and Workforce Development.

Sen. Bill Eigel (R-St. Charles County) was removed as Chair of the Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs, and Pensions.

Hoskins, Brattin, Koenig and Eigel all have ties to the Freedom Caucus, which consists of a group of hard-right Republican members. The group has reportedly been linked to some tensions and fillibusters in recent weeks.

“Missourians have demanded more of us,” said Rowden. “They have demanded progress, civility, and the passage of policies that will provide better schools, a stronger economy, and safer communities around this state.”

Eigel, currently campaigning for the Missouri governor’s office, fired back and shared the following statement after Rowden’s announcement Tuesday:

“Jefferson City is ruled by a uniparty cartel of special interests, RINOs, and Democrats, who band together to crush the voice of the people. These are the same tactics The Swamp uses against President Trump. They can strip me of my chairmanship, they can kick me off committees, they can drag my name through the mud, but I am not backing down. They think this punishment will somehow deter me, but I am freer than I have ever been.  I don’t work for the swamp. I work for the people, and the people are tired of spineless RINOs. We will push forward until initiative petition reform crosses the finish line—I will not stand idly by and allow Missouri’s pro-life laws to be destroyed.”