'Nonsense!' House Freedom Caucus chair explodes at reporter cornering him on 'moving goalposts'

21 May

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris (R-Maryland) speaking to reporters (Image via Screengrab / CNN)

President Donald Trump is making it clear that he wants House Republicans to pass his "big, beautiful bill" sooner rather than later. But GOP lawmakers are still fighting over the particulars, with hardcore budget hawks in the House Freedom Caucus and the Tea Party butting heads with Republicans in swing districts who are worried about the 2026 midterms.

Rep. Andy Harris (R-Maryland), who chairs the Freedom Caucus, showed how tense things have become when speaking to reporters on Tuesday morning, May 21.

Harris, in an exchange broadcast by CNN, told reporters, "We demand that waste, fraud and abuse be addressed in Medicaid. It's inadequately addressed in the current bill, and we believe that as much of the Green New (Deal) scam should be eliminated as is possible."

Asked by a reporter why "y'all are moving the goalposts," Harris grew even more irate.

"Let me address the goalpost nonsense," he said. "We are working within the goalposts."

The Freedom Caucus chairman continued, "We're not saying we need to move the amount of cuts up because goodness knows, we moved the amount of spending yesterday with the SALT agreement. We're saying work within the goalposts, rearrange it within the goalposts in accordance with what the president wants. End waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid, which is wasting dollars that should be spent on the truly vulnerable and then end as much of the Green New (Deal) scam as possible."

Harris fumed when a reporter noted that "the president" and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) "say you've gotten what you've asked for," adding, "You're saying they're wrong?"

Harris' ally, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), jumped in, forcefully telling the reporter, "The White House was very clear about what we're working on together to actually deliver on what the chairman, Chairman Harris, just talked about. We're talking about specifics."

Watch the full CNN video below or at this link.

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