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WASHINGTON D.C. (WBFF) — Rep. Andy Harris, Maryland’s lone republican congressman and Chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, remains undecided on whether he will support Speaker of the House Mike Johnson on Frida, when the House of Representatives is expected to decide who will lead Congress.
Congressman Harris is concerned with the current national debt, which now amounts to $36.19 trillion, according to the U.S. Department of Treasury, and is critical of Speaker Johnson’s handling of the budget.
“Since President Trump’s historic election to bring down spending, deficits, and inflation, the ‘Republican’-led House has INITIATED $300 billion in unpaid for new spending, without even ATTEMPTING offsets to prevent skyrocketing the deficit and debt. Future generations deserve better,” the congressman told FOX45. “I am now undecided on what House leadership should look like in the 119th Congress.”
On Dec. 21st, the House approved a stopgap measure to keep the government funded. Rep. Harris was one of 34 Republican representatives who voted against the spending bill.
In an interview with FOX45 on Dec. 20th, Harris said he was still supportive of the Speaker, but added that some of his Republican colleagues were “much more questionable” of leader Johnson.
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“I am still supportive of Speaker Johnson. There are some of my colleagues who are much more questionable after what has happened in the last two weeks. But, again, we still have a while to go not only on this ball, but until January 3rd. We’ll see what develops,” Harris said.
On Dec. 30, only a few days prior to the Speaker’s vote on Jan. 3, President-elect Donald Trump endorsed Speaker Johnson. “Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hard working, religious man. He will do the right thing, and we will continue to WIN. Mike has my Complete & Total Endorsement. MAGA!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
GOP Rep. Thomas Massie from Kentucky said that, while he supports and respects Trump, he does not plan to protect Johnson’s leadership.
“I respect and support President Trump, but his endorsement of Mike Johnson is going to work out about as well as his endorsement of Speaker Paul Ryan. We’ve seen Johnson partner with the democrats to send money to Ukraine, authorize spying on Americans, and blow the budget,” Rep. Massie wrote.
As his influence grows in Congress, some have suggested that Congressman Harris himself might be a good fit for the speakership. “His stock has been rising. It’s certainly plausible he could be a name out there,” Flavio Hickel Jr., a political science professor at Washington College in Chestertown, told FOX45’s media partner, The Baltimore Sun.
However, during an interview with Rob Finnerty from Newsmax on Monday, Harris said that his “undecided” position is not in reference to him seeking the leadership position.
