House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good plans to make good on a promise to step down as chair of the hard-line conservative caucus after losing the recount of his tightly contested primary.
It’s not clear when the caucus will choose his replacement.
Mr. Good, Virginia Republican, said he notified the Freedom Caucus’ leadership board during a closed-door meeting on Monday that he would step down, but did not clarify when his departure from the position would be effective.
His decision comes after a caustic primary battle against Virginia state Sen. John McGuire that saw congressional Republicans and former President Donald Trump weigh in on the race for Virginia’s 5th congressional district. Mr. Good would also be the first sitting chair of the caucus to leave the position before the end of his term.
Rep. Ralph Norman, South Carolina Republican, told The Washington Times that he expected Mr. Good’s resignation from his position to be effective by the end of the week, and that he and other members of the caucus would consider a replacement next week.
“Everybody’s being considered, we got to figure out who wants it,” Mr. Norman said.
But members of the Freedom Caucus were in no rush to replace Mr. Good, who was elected to the post earlier this year to serve a two-year term as leader of the hardline collective.
Lawmakers will not spend much time in Washington in the coming months, with a scheduled recess coming by the end of September that will last until after the Nov. 5 election. From there, they will only be in the Capitol for a few weeks until Christmas break, and by January the caucus will likely elect a new chair to serve a full two-year term.
Rep. Andy Ogles, Tennessee Republican, said he believed Mr. Good had done well as chair, but didn’t see a need to rush to replace him.
“You know, I don’t know that there’s any urgency, other than just from a strategic standpoint, laying out a plan,” he said. “We’ll just see what happens over the next few days.”
Rep. Eric Burlison, Missouri Republican, said that many in the caucus were comfortable with Mr. Good staying on as long as he wanted, but expected that the leadership board would produce a name for them to vote on soon.
Mr. Burlison said that he would like to see a previous chair, like Rep. Andy Biggs, Arizona Republican, to temporarily serve as chair, largely because he has a good relationship with Mr. Trump and he is not in the midst of a tough reelection like Mr. Good was.
He said running in a tough primary race and acting as the chair of the Freedom Caucus may have stretched Mr. Good too thin.
“It may not have been helpful for that dynamic for him both in running his campaign, because he had to worry about being a chairman of the caucus and vice versa,” Mr. Burlison said.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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