Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) has officially rejoined the Republican Study Committee (RSC), another coup for the largest conservative group on Capitol Hill.
Harris’s return, which Breitbart News is reporting exclusively, brings another marquee Capitol Hill conservative into the RSC’s growing fold. The move also reflects the House Republican Conference – and RSC’s – rightward shift in recent years that has continued under new Chairman August Pfluger (R-TX).
As leader of the Freedom Caucus, Harris is often in the room negotiating with Republican leadership to cut spending and enact conservative policies.
“As Chair of the House Freedom Caucus, I’m happy to work with any Republican organization to help advance the policies of fiscal responsibility and conservatism that are the hallmarks of the Party,” Harris said in a statement exclusive to Breitbart News.
Pfluger said he was “excited” to welcome Harris back to RSC.
“Andy’s return bolsters our formidable ranks as the RSC works alongside President Trump to deliver the America First priorities our nation desperately needs,” he told Breitbart News in an exclusive statement. “The deep state bureaucrats and radical left should take notice – the RSC is mobilized, we’re unified, and we’re taking back our country.”
With Harris, RSC’s membership rises to 182 members – over three quarters of House Republicans.
A source tells Breitbart News more members are expected to join in the coming weeks.
Harris’s move comes weeks after Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) – a former RSC chair – rejoined RSC a decade after leaving the organization, which Breitbart News reported exclusively:
In 2015, Jordan and several other conservative colleagues splintered from RSC to create the House Freedom Caucus, partly over concerns about the RSC’s ballooning membership pushing the group further to the center.
The much-smaller House Freedom Caucus now numbers around 35 members and proudly maintains its reputation as the most conservative bloc in the House. But the broader House Republican Conference has shifted markedly to the right as Donald Trump’s emergence as leader of the Republican Party ushered in a new age in Washington.
Jordan deserves much of the credit for the rightward trajectory of the conference, which has increasingly accepted – or at least tolerated – HFC members despite undiminished animosity from the establishment.
Many freedom caucus members maintain membership in both HFC and RFC. Jordan, who remains [in] HFC, now joins those ranks.
House conservatives continue to flex their muscle, recently pushing an amended budget resolution through the House Budget Committee to cut trillions in spending and serve as the legislative vehicle to unlock Trump’s agenda on border security, energy, and taxes.
That budget reconciliation battle is just beginning, but RSC has made clear it will be a major player in that and other fights.
Bradley Jaye is Deputy Political Editor for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter and Instagram @BradleyAJaye
