Andy Harris steers hard-line Freedom Caucus into the Trump era

House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) has taken the famously confrontational group in a slightly more agreeable direction as it prepares for a Trump-controlled Washington, where the goal will be to support the incoming president’s policy agenda rather than exert maximum pressure on a Democratic administration.

But even as Harris and other members of the group stress their support for President-elect Trump, clashes between Trump and fiscal hawks in the group are already emerging.

It will be up to Harris, who in December was formally reelected to lead the group through the end of 2025, to focus the attention of about three dozen members on a common objective.

“The best way to advance the conservative agenda is to not be constantly viewed as an obstacle,” Harris said in an interview in December. “That’s why we came to an agreement on the motion to vacate.”

Harris was key in negotiating an agreement among House Republicans in November to raise the threshold for forcing a vote to oust the Speaker, known as the “motion to vacate,” from one to nine Republicans. In exchange, others in the conference dropped their pushes for antichaos internal GOP rules, such as punishing members who bucked the party on procedural votes.

“That was an example of how I think we should operate, which is to actually come to an agreement — because, you know, we are reasonable people. Come to agreements. They’re not going to be perfect for everybody, but they’re going to move us in the right direction,” Harris said.

The Freedom Caucus members also paved the way for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to be formally reelected last week without forcing him into multiple ballots — though not without sending a warning shot at him. The group’s board, led by Harris, said in a letter after the Speakership vote that while it did not want to delay timely certification of Trump’s electors, Johnson “must prove he will not fail to enact President Trump’s bold agenda.” 

Harris was also among those who withheld support for Johnson up until the floor vote.

Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), chair of the Main Street Caucus who also negotiated the motion to vacate agreement, said he “love[s] working with Andy Harris” and cutting deals with him – noting that Harris's predecessor, former Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), was “a more difficult personality to get to yes.”

Harris became chair of the group after Good stepped down, having lost a primary challenge to now-Rep. John McGuire III (R-Va.), who enjoyed the support of Trump in part because Good had previously endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for president. 

That primary also triggered other turmoil in the group, when it voted to remove Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) after he endorsed McGuire. Davidson had previously lamented that the group relied “too little on influence with and among our colleagues.”

Trump’s looming return to the White House appears to be part of the reason for the shift toward being more amenable to negotiation rather than hard-line stances. 

“Obviously our principles remain the same, but how we implement them and how we try to get them integrated into policies, obviously, is different under the system we have now versus when President Trump is president,” Harris said.

Now, Harris says, support for Trump will be a defining aspect of the group.

“Pound for pound, or per capita, we are the strongest supporters of President Trump anywhere in Washington. This group is it,” Harris said.

“Since we believe the president will be driving the House leadership agenda, that means it'll be much, much easier, I believe, for us to influence the House leadership than it is under the current circumstance, or even in President Trump's first term,” Harris added.

There have, however, already been dust-ups between members of the Freedom Caucus and Trump.

After Trump made a last-minute demand for a debt ceiling increase in a government funding bill in December, a number of members of the group — many of whom are fiscal hawks who are demanding spending cuts as a condition of raising the debt ceiling — voted against a Trump-endorsed bill that included a debt ceiling hike.

Trump went as far as to call for a primary challenge to Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) after he expressed opposition to the debt ceiling hike unless there are spending cuts.

There is also a split between the Freedom Caucus and Trump on the preferred strategy to push through his legislative agenda through a process called reconciliation that bypasses the threat of a Democratic filibuster in the Senate, but can only be used a limited number of times in a year.

The Freedom Caucus had endorsed a two-bill strategy, starting with a border-focused package and moving to tax and energy issues later. Trump said he would prefer a one-bill strategy. But the members of Freedom Caucus and Trump, though, seem open to whichever strategy is most effective and efficient.

Harris, an anesthesiologist, has been in Congress to see every phase of the Freedom Caucus, having represented Maryland’s 1st District since 2011.

And he’s also seen the transformation of the Republican Party.

“It's a very different party and very different base, and I think the demographics of the last election showed that. And I think it's up to us to actually deliver on what Mr. Trump's vision for the Republican Party is, which is the party of the working man and woman,” Harris said.

Harris is also likely to bring valuable perspective in the coming spending and funding battles due to his powerful position on the House Appropriations Committee, chairing its subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and the Food and Drug Administration.

In between working on legislation or crafting strategy with his Freedom Caucus colleagues, Harris is likely to be working on one of his favorite hobbies — repairing old cars. He counted off at least eight cars that he owns, and lamented an increase in titling fees in Maryland.

“I really like working on cars,” Harris said, talking about one of his pickup trucks and an old Lincoln Town Car and plotting car repairs for the winter break. “They don’t make them like they used to.”