Representative Good Voted as Chair of House Freedom Caucus

Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., was elected as chairman of the House Freedom Caucus (HFC). He will succeed Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., who is term limited.

Although the HFC is comprised of about three dozen members, it continues to have strong influence in a chamber where the GOP holds a narrow majority. Good is expected to play a leading role in negotiations in key legislation, Axios reported.

Good, a fiscal conservative, was one of eight Republican House members who voted to oust former speaker Kevin McCarthy in October, CNN reported.

The selection of Good to serve as chair did not please everyone in the HFC. Axios reported that Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, sent a letter to colleagues announcing he would not run for reelection to the group’s board, citing its recommendation that Good become chairman.

“I am concerned that our group often relies too much on power (available primarily due to the narrow majority) and too little on influence with and among our colleagues,” Davidson wrote colleagues, Axios reported.

“I ask that we consider how to best increase our influence while preserving our power to move policy in the right direction. I strongly feel that Bob Good as Chairman will impair that objective.”

Before his election to chair, Good said that the notion the Freedom Caucus is not doing enough to build influence among the rest of the Republican caucus is “demonstrably false,” The Hill reported.

Good also raised eyebrows when he endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president in 2024 over former President Donald Trump.

Davidson, Reps. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., and Chip Roy, R-Texas, also had been mentioned as potential successors to Perry.

The HFC caucus chair position has served as a springboard into high-profile positions.

Former Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., was Trump’s last chief of staff, and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, heads the House Judiciary Committee, which is one of the panels investigating President Joe Biden’s alleged influence peddling through his family’s foreign business dealings.

Good was elected to Congress in 2020 after winning a GOP primary against incumbent Denver Riggleman.