Rep. Andy Harris (R-1st) talks with visitors at the J. Millard Tawes Clam Bake and Crab Feast in 2021. File photo by Bruce DePuyt.
Hard-line conservatives in the U.S. House of Representatives elected Rep. Andy Harris (R-1st) chair of the House Freedom Caucus on Tuesday evening — a position he’ll hold at least through the end of the year.
Harris emerged as a consensus choice after another caucus member, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), withdrew from the competition. He will replace Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) as leader of the House GOP’s most conservative group. Good stepped down after losing a Republican primary earlier this summer.
“I look forward to leading this caucus as we confront the reckless spending of the Biden-Harris Administration, secure our Southern Border, and defend our constitutional freedoms in the House of Representatives,” Harris, who is an original member of the Freedom Caucus, said in a statement.
Harris takes over at a particularly volatile time on Capitol Hill, with a government shutdown looming at the end of the month if the two chambers of Congress and President Biden cannot agree on a spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins on Oct. 1, or a short-term stopgap budget to keep the lights on while talks continue.
The Freedom Caucus, whose membership is a closely held secret, is believed to consist of about two dozen conservatives. It has often been a thorn in the side of House GOP leaders.
But Harris may have to straddle a line between the leadership and the bomb throwers: He’s chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development and Food and Drug Administration, making him a so-called cardinal on that powerful committee. In a tweet congratulating Harris, Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), a member of the Freedom Caucus, made note of the anomaly.
“In the annals of, ‘it could never happen,’ the House Freedom Caucus Chairman is also a cardinal on the House Appropriations Committee,” Perry wrote. “The @freedomcaucus continues to punch above its weight. Well done, Andy.”
Several other caucus members also offered congratulations. Good said the group “is in capable hands” with Harris as leader.
But the Democratic National Committee offered a blistering attack on Harris Wednesday morning, referencing the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 and the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“Trump’s Project 2025 takeover just got a new ally in the MAGA House,” said DNC spokesperson Emilia Rowland. “Rep. Andy Harris was a key player in pushing Trump’s Big Lie — becoming one of Trump’s ‘closest allies in Congress’ as he tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election — and has a record of pushing extreme, Project 2025 legislation like a national abortion ban, repealing the ACA [Affordable Care Act], handouts to the ultra-wealthy, and attacks on Americans’ personal freedoms.
“Trump’s Republican Party isn’t focused on solutions for the American people, they’re focused on doing Trump’s bidding in Congress to score him political points,” Rowland said. “With Rep. Harris at the helm of the far-right Freedom Caucus where Trump pulls the strings, they’ll continue to attack our freedoms, middle-class families, and our democracy until voters hold them accountable at the ballot box this November.”
Harris, the lone Republican in Maryland’s congressional delegation, is heavily favored to win an eighth term in November against Democrat Blaine Miller, a Navy veteran, in the 1st District, where registered Republicans make up 56% of the district to Democrats’ 43%. Assuming he’s reelected, Harris can stand for a full term as Freedom Caucus chair in the next Congress.