As Frelinghuysen had been less conservative than many members of the Republican caucus, he was elevated to the Appropriations Committee chairship only based on his assurance to the conservatives that he would be willing to set aside his personal views to implement party policy. One conservative on the committee, Representative Robert Aderholt, said, "One of the things we had discussed going into this, when he wanted to take the chairmanship, was that at the end of the day he understood that when he was negotiating these bills he'd be negotiating on behalf of his conference, as opposed to his own philosophy."