U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, Maryland’s lone Republican in Congress and the leader of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said he would likely be among the Republicans who travel to meet with President-elect Donald Trump at his Florida home in the coming days.
An ardent Trump supporter, Harris said he would “probably” be going when asked about recent reports that Freedom Caucus members were meeting at Mar-a-Lago toward the end of this week.
“The news reports are correct. The president will meet with members of the Republican conference who will be those blocks that will be key to expediting the president’s agenda in the first 100 days,” Harris told The Baltimore Sun at the State House in Annapolis, where he was visiting with state lawmakers on the opening day of the annual legislative session.
Harris staked his ground as a member of one of those key “blocks” on Friday when Congress started its new session. House Speaker Mike Johnson was reelected to his position only after several holdouts, including Harris, said they had reservations about Johnson and reluctantly agreed to back him because they believed it would help Trump’s agenda.
“Personalities can be debated later, but right now there is zero room for error on the policies the American people demanded when they voted for President Trump — the ones necessary to save the country,” read a letter from Harris and 10 other members of the House Freedom Caucus who wrote out a list of policies and demands from Johnson.
Securing the southern border, enacting federal spending cuts and immediately reversing President Joe Biden’s agenda were among the priorities.
Harris, when asked Wednesday what he hopes to discuss with Trump and his team if he attends the Mar-a-Lago gathering, said it’s all about the president-elect.
“It’s delivering on his agenda, what he promised the American people and how we can support that agenda and move it as quickly as possible,” Harris said.
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