Congress’ conservative rebels pick new leader

Members of the most conservative coalition of lawmakers in the House of Representatives see themselves as banner carriers for ideals that transcend the Republican Party.

“It’s the conscience of the American people,” Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said of the group known as the Freedom Caucus. “It’s the conscience of where America is. Americans don’t expect us to win every fight, but they do expect us to fight for the Constitution.”

In the 118th Congress, members of the Freedom Caucus helped topple a speaker of the House for the first time in U.S. history. They pressured House leaders to stay away from unwieldy omnibus spending packages. They have tanked 11 Republican-led votes on the House floor. And they’ve pressed for procedural rule changes that have increased lawmaker participation.

Some Republicans question whether the group’s strategies truly help implement conservative results. But the Freedom Caucus is under new management now, and previous tactics could change.

Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., became the caucus chairman last week following the resignation of Rep. Bob Good, R-Va. Good lost his primary earlier this year and will leave Congress in January.

While Harris will likely pursue the objectives of the group just as seriously as his predecessors, his track record suggests he might try to find new ways of achieving those ends; perhaps more through the traditional reins of power.

Harris has been in Congress since 2011. He’s the only Republican among the eight House members from Maryland, and he’s a member of the powerful Appropriations Committee. He also is one of the 12 lawmakers known as cardinals, those who help shepherd spending legislation through Congress.

Although a member of the Freedom Caucus, Harris does not always vote with the bloc. Of the 11 times the caucus refused to vote for Republican-sponsored legislation this year, eight of which had to do with spending, Harris only joined in once.

I asked Good, the outgoing chairman, what he expects to see as Harris leads the group for the remainder of the year.

“He and I are obviously different,” Good said. “Different skill, different experience. He’s very bright, very knowledgeable. Very effective appropriator. I think he brings a lot to the table. The future will reveal how he will be more similar versus a little different from the previous chairs. We’re all a little bit different.”

Jim Curry, a professor in the University of Utah’s political science department, believes that Harris’ selection makes sense for the overall direction of the group.

“The Freedom Caucus has adapted its approach a little bit,” Curry said. “Yes, they’re still going to push their leadership hard, but they’re also trying to work their way into these traditional positions of power in the House of Representatives. And so, in some ways, it kind of makes a lot of sense that [they’ve] picked Harris to be the next one because he fits.”

Other members of the Freedom Caucus fit that trend, too. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, is on the powerful Rules Committee that makes decisions about which bills come to the floor for a vote. He’s also the Freedom Caucus policy chairman. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who helped found the group in 2015, commands the Judiciary Committee.

“Jim Jordan’s a committee chairman now of an important committee, which, if you had told me that in 2015, I’d have told you that was never going to happen because he seemed so opposed to playing that game at that time,” Curry said.

The Freedom Caucus was born expressly out of a desire to challenge Republican leadership whenever it failed to deliver on conservative promises.

“It was meant to be sort of more hard-edged, organized, and more decisively anti-leadership,” Curry said.

Rep. Derrick Van Orden, a Wisconsin Republican who is not on the Freedom Caucus, believes that opposition to leadership is still alive and well—and that it does more harm than good. He pointed to October 2023 when some members of the caucus helped topple then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., for failing to deliver spending cuts.

“The role of the Freedom Caucus in this Congress is to do their utmost for Republicans to lose the majority. And I’ve told this to all those guys to their face that if we’re not in the majority next Congress, it lies solely on the shoulders of the members of the Freedom Caucus, in particular the [members] that voted to get rid of Kevin McCarthy,” Van Orden said.

He noted that he deeply respects many of the group’s members, including Harris, whom he called personal friends. He just disagrees deeply with their tactics.

At the moment, Harris is reserving judgment on the GOP’s current direction under Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. He’s waiting to see how the speaker handles impending decisions about government spending.

“It all depends on what the speaker’s plans are,” Harris said. “I need to hear that if the Democrats are unwilling to negotiate in good faith that he’s willing to kick this into the next year including a shutdown in December if necessary.”

The Freedom Caucus will vote to retain Harris at the top of the group or select a new leader when the 119th Congress starts in January. Until then, Harris will lead the coalition as Congress considers end-of-the-year priorities like the Farm Bill, the National Defense Authorization Act, funding the government, and more.