After an unusual and at times acrimonious application process, the conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC) has decided to allow Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (Mich.) to join its ranks.

McCotter, the House Republican Policy Committee chairman, formally applied to the RSC in January but the group didn’t make a final decision until late last month.

He then sought one, according to a June 16 e-mail sent from McCotter to several RSC members and obtained by The Hill:

“As you might or might not know, on Jan. 23, 2008, I applied for a Republican Study Committee membership.

“Since then I have received no response. Today, I have been contacted by a reporter doing a story about how the RSC has refused my membership application. Thanks for the heads-up …”

At the time, McCotter attributed the perceived slight to a personality conflict with RSC Chairman Jeb Hensarling (Texas): “This may be deeper than politics. I’m a Lennon fan — he’s a Harrison guy,” he quipped.

But in an interview on Wednesday, McCotter chalked up the incident to a misunderstanding.

“I talked to Jeb. [The application] hadn’t been processed,” McCotter said. “He said he would take it to the steering committee and recommend they accept it.”

A week later, McCotter was notified he had been approved by the 18-member RSC Steering Committee.

“He’s an honest dude,” McCotter said, noting that as chairman, Hensarling likely had many tasks to manage.

 Hensarling acknowledged that not all members of the RSC feel as passionately as he does about a unilateral earmark moratorium but stressed that members are not selected based on a single litmus test.

“We do a thorough inspection of everyone’s record,” he said. “Some members fervently defend the congressional power of the purse, when it comes to earmarks, I respectfully disagree with that policy.”

Hensarling said that many lawmakers who join the RSC become more conservative after being accepted.

Under Hensarling’s leadership, no one who has applied to RSC has been rejected.

Hensarling noted that McCotter gave him a picture of Harrison, which has been hung in the Texan’s Capitol Hill office.

McCotter’s decision to apply for the RSC was a bit unusual. His voting record is largely conservative — the American Conservative Union gives him a lifetime rating of 87, but he has been known to break with the GOP on critical issues.

He backed several facets of the Democrats’ “Six for ’06” campaign agenda and has been publicly critical of what is the RSC’s signature issue: earmark reform.

In June, McCotter said Hensarling’s push for an immediate conference–wide earmark vote would ultimately backfire.

“Conference coercion vitiates the relationship between the member and their constituents — that’s just reality,” McCotter said then.

However, McCotter recently declared he too would abstain from requesting earmarks this year. He added that he had made the decision after the Republican retreat in January because he is a member of Republican leadership, but had not announced the choice publicly, citing the need to remain neutral.

He reiterated that each member had to make that choice individually based on his or her district, noting that he had “taken heat” from his constituents for seeking earmarks.

McCotter attracted less than 60 percent of the vote in both 2004 and 2006. While he is favored to retain his seat, Democrats are targeting McCotter this year.

A lawmaker who wants to apply to the RSC has to fill out a one-page form with his or her name and the names of his or her staffers.

The prospective member must agree to pay the $5,000 per session dues ($2,500 for freshmen, $10,000 for RSC steering committee members) out of the Members Representational Allowance.