What was our congressman doing in Washington last week? Was he working to make America fiscally responsible again? No, he wasn’t. Congressman Harris was voting to increase the national debt by at least $3.3 trillion over the next ten years.
If you voted for Harris in 2024 to reduce the federal debt, you should get your vote back, Harris is part of the problem, not the solution.
Handgun Harris represented Donald J. Trump last week, not fiscal conservatives or anyone else in his congressional district.
Last time I checked, the First District of Maryland was largely rural in character. Will our hospitals lose federal assistance? I don’t recall Harris expressing any concern about that. How about First District families who need SNAP benefits? Nope. Have a child in college or planning to go soon? The cost of college is about to go up because of student loan “reforms” that Trump and his boy wonder Stephen Miller championed.
The Baltimore Banner reports, “An estimated 24,000 people in Harris’ district are expected to lose access to Medicaid because of the bill. In Dorchester County, Harris’ home base, more than 23 percent of residents rely on Medicaid and 41% of the county’s children are on a federal-state health insurance program, according to 2023 census estimates.”
And the list could go on. The new law is 870 pages long. The Committee Report accompanying it, which includes details on what the President just signed, is 2,507 pages long—so long that it is a two-volume set.
Do you wonder whether Handgun Harris read them? I doubt it, but maybe he has. If that is the case, his voting for this legislation is even more troubling.
When Trump’s “Mega Bill” was first considered by the House, Harris voted present. That vote was crucial in allowing the bill to move forward. On Wednesday. Harris voted “aye.” What changed, Mr. Handgun?
Here’s one theory. The final bill includes a pleasant surprise for hard-core “gun enthusiasts,” not just law-abiding people, but others involved in organized crime. CNN reports, “The bill eliminates a $200 fee that gun owners are charged when purchasing silencers and short-barrel rifles, as well as registration and ownership requirements. It removes those provisions from the scope of the 1934 National Firearms Act, a Prohibition-era law intended to crack down on gangland crime.”
Did this provision prompt Harris to set aside his worry of $3.3 trillion increase in the national debt and vote for the bill? How many First District hunters use a short-barrel rifle or a handgun with a silencer on it to hunt deer?
To our knowledge, Handgun Harris to date has offered only one cryptic explanation for voting for the bill’s final passage, “We came to significant agreements with the administration overnight on executive actions, both inside and outside, of the bill that will make America great again.”
What did Trump give Harris and his fellow Freedom Caucus extremists to secure their votes? First District voters have a right to know. Congressman Harris, why don’t you hold a town hall meeting, open it to the public, and explain your vote?
When Harris first ran for Congress, he presented himself as a reformer. He voluntarily pledged to serve no more than six terms in Congress. In 2022, when those terms were over, Harris changed his mind. He likes the halls of Congress more than those of a hospital.
Harris was also once a champion of Ukraine. Until yesterday, when President Trump announced he was resuming some weapons shipments to Ukraine, Trump was curtailing urgently needed weapons shipments needed by Ukraine to fight Putin. Why wasn’t Harris raising hell? Why wasn’t he speaking out? The obvious answer is that he, like virtually all his Republican House and Senate colleagues, have drank the Trump Kool-Aid. They follow their leader, blindly.
Andy represents MAGA, not Maryland. If you embrace the old-fashioned idea that a congressional representative should pursue the needs of their constituents, you must conclude Handgun Harris is shooting blanks.
The 2026 mid-term elections are about 18 months away. Will somebody, please, run against Harris? I would prefer a Democrat. But even a moderate Republican would be an improvement. A moderate Republican who keeps promises. Someone who, if they run on “principles,” will not violate them. Someone who is not Andy “Handgun” Harris.
J.E. Dean writes on politics and government but, too frequently, on President Trump. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.
Dean will be on vacation until July 30, when he hopes to write on something positive that President Trump or Handgun Harris might have done.
Bob Kopec says
Why is this guy STILL in Congress? Can anyone list what he has done to benefit the people he supposedly represents?
John Dean says
You ask two excellent questions. I don’t have answers, but will keep looking for them.
As always, thank you for reading my piece.
Wilson Dean says
The people of the Eastern Shore are going to take a pounding from the new ugly bill Harris supported so willingly. We’ll see a significant decline in services, a degradation of our beloved Chesapeake Bay, and higher interest rates stemming from the unmanageable level of debt the bill will produce. It’s time to send Andy packing and elect someone who really cares about our region.
John Dean says
As always, I find myself in complete agreement.
Francine DeSanctis says
I cannot understand what Harris has EVER done to merit a selection to the House of Representatives. I am hard pressed to find ANY bill he supported that helped
District 1, and yet he gets re-elected. What’s it going to take to show evidence of incompetence?
John Dean says
Good question. I understand that Andy likes being in Congress. What I don’t understand is what he thinks he is accomplishing here. Pleasing Trump should not be satisfying to a normal person.
Jim Wilkins says
Thank you for your concise synopsis on exactly what Congressman Harris has accomplished in a positive sense for his district:zero would accurately describe the figure. In terms of negatives, you have captured the essence of Mr. Harris’s time in office which many hope will end with the midterm elections. How long are district voters willing to accept abysmal performance (not one bill authored by the congressman has been introduced during all his time in government) and his voting record which, as Mr Dean so aptly noted has most recently deprived many of his constituents of healthcare and taken away needed benefits for children. I agree wholeheartedly with Dean’s plea to find someone who is willing to run against this sorry excuse of a representative.
Ann Farrell says
Several excellent Democratic candidates (Colvin, Mizeur) ran against Harris in recent elections. Somehow, in spite of his surly personality, limited campaigning and horrific policies he continues to win the votes on the Eastern Shore while proudly voting against his constituents- and country’s – best interests.
John Dean says
You are right, but I still hope a quality candidate will decide to take him on in 2026. The mid-term elections may be a repudiation of Trump, I think, so maybe 2026 will be different than past elections.
Michele Gramens says
For years Harris has been unresponsive to his constituents, and even downright rude. He keeps getting elected by the minority of republicans who just vote for the R next to his name. They’re going to regret it when their Medicare is gone, along with the farm workers.
John Dean says
All true. Thank you for the comment.
Brian J. Corden says
One of the main issues in health care in the mid-Shore (Kent, Queen Anne, Caroline, Talbot and Dorchester counties) is the construction of a new hospital. This has been an issue for years as reported in these pages at least since the mid 1990’s. We have gone back and forth on where and when to build and how to finance this hospital. Facilities in Kent abd Dorchester counties have been closed in anticipation of its construction.
But how, in God’s green earth, are we going to finance this new hospital, Dr. Harris? In voting “Aye” for the passage of this awful bill not only have you voted against the vital needs of your constituents, you have also voted against the very medical system in which you, yourself, practice anaesthesiology.
Donna von Lipsey says
Check out Dan Schwarz and Rev. Terrance Roger’s, both declared Dem candidates. Jake Day has an exploratory committee. I met Dan Schwartz at a gathering in Oxford, sponsored by a concerned citizens group. (See Spy Letter to Editor, July 5 by Maria Grant) Dan Schwartz is a consumer watchdog who has worked at the state and federal level.