WASHINGTON — Rep. Andy Harris was a key player during tax and spending bill negotiations on Wednesday, withholding support for the legislation while hoping each passing moment would improve the prospects of adding new deficit reduction measures.

It was a familiar position, albeit a delicate one, for the Maryland Republican, a deficit hawk who chairs the influential House Freedom Caucus.

Harris is an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, who has been pushing support for the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” a signature mega-bill that includes tax cuts and immigration control spending. The bill “delivers on Republican promises to lower taxes, secure the border, cut spending, and put Americans first,” the White House said this week.

However, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s estimates, the legislation is projected to increase the national debt by $3.3 trillion over the next 10 years.

That projection put Harris in the position of either defying Trump or potentially compromising his deficit hawk credentials.

Harris, whose district includes Harford County, the Eastern Shore and a portion of Baltimore County, had not yet announced his position on the bill late Wednesday afternoon.

He declined to comment to reporters as he shuttled between the House floor and a private meeting of the House Freedom Caucus nearby. His office did not respond to interview requests from The Baltimore Sun.

As bill negotiations continued, Harris was publicly lobbied on X by Elon Musk, a longtime Trump supporter and former head of the Department of Government Efficiency, who has clashed with the president over the bill.

“How can you call yourself the Freedom Caucus if you vote for a DEBT SLAVERY bill with the biggest debt ceiling increase in history?” Musk posted on X. He directed the post at Harris and Texas Rep. Chip Roy, a fellow deficit hawk who also complained about the cost of the Senate bill.

Harris had “some pressure on him,” said Roger Hartley, dean of the University of Baltimore’s College of Public Affairs.

“He’s been saying for years that he’s a deficit hawk. And will a deficit hawk be willing to put another $3 trillion on top of the deficit?” Hartley said.

The House originally passed the bill last spring. The Senate made extensive changes to the House version, deepening the Medicaid cuts by adding an additional work requirement and limiting the provider tax rate, which provides hospitals with additional federal funding.

The Freedom Caucus posted on X that the Senate version was flawed. In addition to adding to the deficit, the caucus said the measure “doesn’t fully get illegal aliens off Medicaid” and “guts the repeal of the Green New Scam.”

The post referred to green energy tax credits — including those for wind and solar projects — that Harris opposes and which were signed into law by Democratic former President Joe Biden.

Harris has often withheld support, at least initially, for Trump-backed budget plans to prod his party to offset spending increases with cuts.

“This spending addiction has to stop now,” he posted on X during a budget debate last spring.

While he is usually a staunch defender of Trump, Harris has leeway to oppose the president and other leading Republicans on budget issues because his district is considered “safe.”

It is the only U.S. House district in Maryland with more registered Republicans than Democrats, and he is the state’s only GOP congressional delegation member.

Harris was also a holdout when the framework for the “big, beautiful bill” of tax cuts, mass deportations and other policy items came up initially last spring.

He ultimately voted for it, and the Freedom Caucus’ support was critical to its 216-214 passage.

“After hearing concerns from our members, the White House committed to historic spending reductions including, targeting the ‘Green New Scam’ IRA tax credits as well as waste, fraud, and abuse in the expanding Medicaid program,” Harris said at the time.

It was uncertain whether he could extract similar promises this time.

“I think in the end the House Freedom Caucus will probably get some concessions in the way of additional promises,” said St. Mary’s College political science professor Todd Eberly. “I doubt they would kill Trump’s signature legislation,” he said.

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