Reps. Mary Miller of Illinois and Andy Harris of Maryland were part of the Republican bloc voting repeatedly against elevating their party leader, Kevin McCarthy, to House Speaker. Harris was the senior Republican on the House Appropriations subcommittee in charge of USDA and FDA spending, and Miller served on the House Agriculture Committee in the past session of Congress.
Like most of the anti-McCarthy Republicans, Miller and Harris are from politically conservative, Trump-leaning districts and voted two years ago to overturn the election of President Biden. Both are associated with the House Freedom Caucus, “the group of hardline conservatives,” said Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a political newsletter.
Miller easily defeated five-term Rep. Rodney Davis in a primary election in downstate Illinois last June on the way to winning a second House term in November. Former president Donald Trump endorsed Miller in the primary election.
Harris was among 10 House Republicans who have hinted at a crackdown on USDA spending powers as retaliation against the Biden administration launch last year of a $3 billion array of demonstration projects, the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities. Harris, from Maryland’s Eastern Shore, was elected to his seventh House term in November.