Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) doesn't fit the typical media portrayal of a chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. Harris was born in New York, where her parents only emigrated a few years ago. She went to high school in Manhattan, became a doctor, and is now Maryland's only Democratic-leaning Republican congressman.
If that wasn't enough, Harris is also the appropriation officer, and not just a rank-and-file staff member, but also the “cardinal,” or chair, of one of the Appropriations Committee's 12 subcommittees.
“The great thing is we can reopen the government on January 3rd when we take over, which means basically three days of no one working.”
His election as speaker comes at a perilous time for the caucus, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary in January. His predecessor, Rep. Bob Good of Virginia, was attacked by Trump campaign officials and lost a close primary in the summer. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson's attempt to add six months of government funding to the SAVE Act election protection bill just blew up on the launch pad. And Republicans are facing a massive Christmas omnibus bill that could tie the next administration's hands for much of 2025.
Harris spoke with Beltway Brief on Tuesday morning to explain why the Speaker's CR fight was the right thing to do, why the December shutdown was worth it, discuss what the consequences would be if leadership members side with Democrats, and offer a glimpse into what it's like to work with a delegation that wants to jail even more Republicans.
Watch the full interview here:
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This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Beltway Brief: You've arrived at an interesting time in Congress. Something seems to change every day. But as it stands, we haven't passed the SAVE Act (at least not with spending), we don't have a clear 6-month CR, there doesn't seem to be any commitment from leadership not to do an omnibus bill, and it looks like the 3-month CR could pass with Democrat votes pending.
You're currently the head of the Freedom Caucus, or at least you're trying to chair it as long as you can. What's the next move for a Congress divided, and a Freedom Caucus that voted differently in the last fight?
Congressman Andy Harris: Clearly, there is a major spending fight ahead before the end of the year and we have to make silk purses out of pigs' ears. Bottom line, the 6-month CR should have passed with SAVE. SAVE is critical to the integrity of our elections. The Chairman is absolutely right. Unfortunately, we didn't get the Republican votes we needed to pass it, so we decided to push it back to December, as we have done in the past.
The difference is that the Speaker has indicated that he is not in favor of a comprehensive bill. I believe that a government shutdown in December is not an option, and we were able to get this bill done by December 20th instead of earlier this month. It doesn't impact the election 23 months from now. It sends a message to Democrats that we are serious about cutting spending. If we are not serious, even if we win the House, the Senate, and the presidential election, we will just push this bill off until next year and deal with it. I think that's the best way to go.
BB: Do you think you can get your colleagues to join you in the fight against the closure just before Christmas, with all the Social Security benefits and all the drama the media is trying to force on you?
ah: Well, the good thing is, we can reopen the government on January 3rd, when we take power. So basically, no one works for three days. January 1st is a Wednesday. I'm sure most of the federal employees have Thursday and Friday off. So basically, nothing happens in the government for three days. And when we reopen on the 3rd, God willing, we have the majority. It's a different deal. There's a new sheriff in town. Let's get the spending under control.
“For about a month around the time of the last indictment and trial, the conversation in Washington was pretty much, 'Oh, he's a felon. He's been convicted. He's this and that.' That's completely gone.”
BB: Now, you're an appropriator. I think you're one of four people on the Freedom Caucus, the most senior of them all. And you have a three-month probationary period as the caucus chair. But this is a new tactic for the Freedom Caucus. Conservatives sometimes get criticized by people for appropriations, and they say, “You guys talk big, but you don't even know how to do it.” So what does the future hold for some of the tactical changes that you're trying to make in this pretty challenging time?
ah: Historically, I think we've only seen one other time in the last 40 years where we've gone from Democrat control of at least two offices — the Senate and the presidency — to total Republican control. To me, that's a very different scenario.
I tell people that not all CRs are the same. There's a big difference between a CR that might be handed down to a new administration that has all the power and a CR that just negotiates an omnibus bill right before Christmas, which is to say, inflate it with $100 billion in additional Senate spending. That doesn't include the emergency spending, the additional spending, that the Senate wants to do.
This is going to be a big fight in December. I hope the Speaker responds to that. I hope he keeps his promise. We're not going to be dealing with an omnibus bill full of all kinds of treats for Christmas. [we’ll] “If you're not going to do your job to control spending for the American people, we should be happy to say, see you on January 3rd.”
BB: Fighting with the Republican Party over politics is nothing new for you. You beat an incumbent in a primary to get to the Maryland Senate, and your first challenge in the House was no different. Right now, Congress seems to be divided into different groups: 12-bill supporters who don't want to vote Republican, people who are still pissed off about basically any speakership, people who don't want to do anything that would upset the Pentagon. What's the path forward for bringing all these people together, not just for people like you and the Freedom Caucus, but for Republican leadership and the role they play?
ah: I want to address one of the groups that you mentioned, the defense community, because, you know, they've always been against continuing resolutions because, you know, in the past, continuing resolutions were just a continuation of the defense budget from the previous year into the CR period.
There is no reason why we can't write a continuing resolution that includes all the stops and starts that the Department of Defense needs. There is no reason we can't do that. We can pass it in a way that satisfies the defense budget writers.
But the people in power in Washington want a mix of defense and non-defense spending. So when you negotiate an increase in defense spending, you also get a big increase in non-defense spending. As far as I know, that equation was broken a few years ago. And that equation has been there since I was in Washington. We broke that equation.
Now is the time to take the next step, which is to separate defense from the other continuing resolutions. We should treat defense separately, because, frankly, we need to make sure we do that in this day and age when Russia and China can pivot at a moment's notice on new defense strategies and plans.
But we can do it. We can just stop doing things the way we've always done them. There's no reason not to. I've been suggesting this for a few months now, and everyone's nodding along, “Well, that's a pretty good idea.”
But they say, “We've never done it before, so we can't do it.” But that's no longer an excuse. We've never had a $35 trillion federal debt. We've had deficits of over $2 trillion for several years in a row. It's time to try something new.
BB: We know that a Republican majority in the Senate, House and White House would change everything, but what would change for the Speaker if he passed an omnibus bill during his suspension with more Democrats than Republicans?
ah: If he passes a comprehensive bill with a suspension, he's in trouble, because … he told us on Tuesday morning that he's not going to agree to a comprehensive bill in December … so I think we should hold them to that promise.
BB: So let's switch gears a little bit and talk about what's going on in Maryland because you're representing the Eastern Shore, and you're from Cambridge, or at least you live in Cambridge, so are you a hunter or a fisherman?
ah: fish.
BB: Do you put Old Bay sauce or vinegar on your crabs?
ah: Old Bay.
If Democrats take power, Jamie Raskin will be in charge, and we will listen to him.
BB: When will Republicans win the Maryland Panhandle region?
ah: I hope that's the case this year. Basically, because of our trial, the Democrats have made it a close race. It was almost impossible for the incumbent, Congressman David Trone (D), to win because he was able to throw tens of millions of dollars at it. And he did. But now that he's gone, the race is open. Neil Parrott is running for the third time, he's well known in the district, and the polls are showing it as a close race. It all depends on who votes.
BB: Maybe we can free Deep Creek.
ah: Absolutely you can! And you won't be the only Republican in Maryland's entire delegation.
BB: As the only Republican in the Maryland delegation, do you think it's going to be awkward to jail Rep. Jamie Raskin in January, or do you think it's going to go well?
ah: Haha! No problem! Good point. I'm worried. If the Democrats take power, Jamie Raskin will be in charge, and I'm listening to him.
Democrats want to lock down their opponents. That's the whole point. They tried to do that with the president, and it was a lot of fun to watch. Every time they indicted him or accused him of something else, his poll numbers went up. It's incredible. It's interesting.
If you listen to what's happened in the last month and a half, you'll see that they've stopped talking about this, because they know that every time they talk about it, independents and hardworking American men and women will look at it and say, “This is not fair. We know it's two-tiered. There's a system for the wealthy and a system for us, and yet they're treating President Trump the same as us.”
And they don't like it, so they stopped talking about it. It's been interesting to watch. For about a month around the time of the final indictment and trial, almost the entire conversation in Washington was, “Oh, he's a felon. He's been convicted. He's this and that.” That has completely stopped.
Kamala mentioned it briefly once during the debate, but that was it. It wasn't her point, because every time she makes that point, her approval rating goes down and the former president's goes up.
BB: You'll see T-shirts being sold on the Ocean City Boardwalk, and that's when you'll know the culture is really starting to change.
ah: Oh, I know, I go to towns on the Eastern Shore and everywhere I go I see shirts and hats that say, “I Vote for Felons.”
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