Maryland’s lone Republican in Congress, U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, is the new chair of the right-wing Freedom Caucus.
Harris has replaced prior Freedom Caucus chair U.S. Rep. Bob Good of Virginia, who lost his Republican primary earlier this year.
In a statement issued by the Freedom Caucus, Harris said: “I look forward to leading this caucus as we confront the reckless spending of the Biden-Harris Administration, work to secure our Southern Border, and defend our constitutional freedoms in the House of Representatives.”
Harris has represented Maryland’s 1st District in Congress since 2011, a district that currently includes the Eastern Shore, Harford County and part of Baltimore County. He is a licensed physician, specializing in anesthesiology, and was a state senator before being elected to Congress.
He’s been a member of the Freedom Caucus since its inception in 2015.
Speaking to Fox News on Tuesday, Harris said the Freedom Caucus would focus on reining in government spending and changing intraparty Republican rules, though he didn’t specify what changes the caucus would seek.
The rules could play a factor in who leads the Republican Party’s members in the House, where they currently hold the majority but in recent years have had a series of House speaker fights more dramatic than “Game of Thrones.”
Harris also promoted the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which would require proof of citizenship when registering to vote. Some have suggested folding provisions of the act into a spending bill that’s going to be necessary to avoid another government shutdown.
Harris’ office did not respond to an interview request on Wednesday morning.
Democrats quickly blasted Harris’ selection as Freedom Caucus chair, saying he’d push for “Project 2025,” a blueprint for a potential second Donald Trump presidency drawn up by the conservative Heritage Foundation that includes a massive revamp of the executive branch.
“Trump’s Project 2025 takeover just got a new ally in the MAGA House,” Democratic National Committee press secretary Emilia Rowland said in a statement, referring to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.
Democrats pointed out that Harris was among politicians who supported Trump’s claims that he was the rightful winner of the 2020 election, which was won by Democratic President Joe Biden.
Harris was present at a meeting at the White House on Dec. 21, 2020 in which Trump and others discussed plans to fight the certification of the election results in Congress on Jan. 6, 2021. That day, a pro-Trump mob overran the U.S. Capitol building, disrupting and delaying the certification.
“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,” Rowland’s statement read.
Earlier this year, Harris broke somewhat from the rest of the Freedom Caucus in advocating for the federal government to provide up-front funding to replace the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore that collapsed after being struck by a ship in March.
The Freedom Caucus had issued a statement saying that government should first seek damages from the shipping companies involved in the crash before expending funds for the bridge.
“There’s consensus that it’s reasonable for the federal government to rebuild the bridge,” Harris said in a call with reporters in April. “The question is how it’s paid for. … We do believe that all efforts to recoup the costs of the cleanup and replacement of the bridge should be borne by the foreign companies that chartered and owned the vessel that ran into the bridge.”
