The former vice presidential nominee told the Washington Examiner that he switched parties because the “big political battle” over the next few years will be within the Republican Party.

“That’s the fight that is really going to matter to public policy at the federal level, to politics at the national level,” ter Maat said in an interview. “And that’s because the president will eventually leave, and that will leave a big vacuum, and the Republican Party needs to decide what it’s going to look like after that.”

The departures of the now-former Libertarians come after President Donald Trump heavily courted the Libertarian vote during the 2024 election cycle, making several promises to their members during a speech at their nominating convention, such as commuting the life sentence of “Silk Road” website creator Ross Ulbricht.

Trump’s address to the Libertarian Party was met with loud booing, but he was cheered for pledges to free Ulbricht and pardon the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters — two promises the president has fulfilled since taking office in January.

While Trump’s term doesn’t end until 2029, ter Maat and several members who have left the national Libertarian Party to join the Republican Liberty Caucus are hoping to influence the GOP from the inside.

The former Libertarians told the Washington Examiner that they see an opportunity within the Republican Party to promote fiscal conservatism and other issues they are passionate about.

That includes when the party chooses its next standard-bearer, said Joshua Hlavka, the former chairman of the Libertarian Party in Florida and a former adviser for ter Maat in 2024, pointing to the fact that Trump has not thrown his full support behind a successor yet.

“Generally speaking, when the guy in power isn’t backing anybody, there’s going to be a lot of people looking to influence here,” Hlavka said. “I’d like to see somebody who’s going to care about issues that I’m worried about: Staying uninvolved in foreign conflicts that don’t concern the American people, minimizing our tax burdens out here, protecting individual rights.”

“I want to make sure that whoever does follow up behind Trump represents those values, and also the fiscal conservatism that we’re looking for here in America,” he continued.

Conversations between ter Maat and the other members of the RLC started earlier this year, with Chairman John Dennis telling the Washington Examiner the caucus is an “entry point” for Libertarians who are “disappointed or just want to move on from the Libertarian Party.”

Moving into 2026 and 2028, the RLC is hoping to recruit members from across the political spectrum, including Libertarians, Republicans, independents, and even Democrats. Dennis called the recruitment into the caucus its “primary mission.”

The wave of Libertarians joining the RLC helps the caucus build its bench with prospective volunteers, donors, and candidates. Dennis floated ter Maat as a possible candidate in a federal race down the road.

Ter Maat told the Washington Examiner that he did not have plans to run for either the GOP nomination or a congressional seat.

In the past, the RLC has supported figures such as the libertarian-leaning Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).

Massie and Paul have broken with the Republican Party multiple times, most recently over the massive Republican-led tax cut and spending bill to advance Trump’s second-term agenda, which Massie voted against on the House floor. The bill, titled the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, has been criticized by fiscal hawks for not cutting spending enough.

Amity Dolby, a former Libertarian Party chairwoman of Virginia’s 5th Congressional District, said she made the switch to promote more members such as the two Kentucky Republicans and to help “steer the GOP in the direction of liberty.”

“I feel like Americans are better served making decisions for their own lives,” Dolby said. “And if we have liberty, limited government, and free markets, then they have more opportunity to do that.”

The Libertarian Party, while the biggest third-party in the United States, has received a dwindling vote share in recent election cycles. Oliver netted less than 1% of the national vote share in 2024. In 2016, then-nominee Gary Johnson received over 3% of the vote, and Jo Jorgensen, the 2020 nominee, garnered just over 1%.

Ultimately, ter Maat said a large reason he decided to leave the Libertarian Party was the “substantial disadvantage” the party is at structurally, both in terms of ballot access and infighting.

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Referring to now-Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s unsuccessful 2024 independent presidential bid, ter Maat said it was evidence of how the U.S.’s two-party system makes it difficult for any third-party bid to get any traction.

“You know, here’s a smart, charismatic guy with a good last name and a whole bunch of money behind him, and he still found it difficult, right?” ter Maat said about Kennedy, who also spoke at the Libertarian convention in an attempt to court an endorsement. “So, that’s hard, and in a system that is controlled largely by two parties. It’s probably going to be hard for a long time.”