House Freedom Caucus Outlines Bold Conservative Agenda as Congress Returns

The House Freedom Caucus has delivered a comprehensive seven-page letter to Speaker Mike Johnson outlining an ambitious conservative policy roadmap ahead of the Republican conference’s agenda-setting forum. The letter, obtained exclusively by Fox News, details the conservative bloc’s priorities on issues ranging from election security to immigration reform and federal spending cuts.

The policy document arrives as lawmakers return to Capitol Hill for the second half of the 119th Congress and ahead of Tuesday’s day-long GOP policy forum at the Trump Kennedy Center. The forum, scheduled to run from 9:30 am to 6 pm, will feature committee leaders and culminate with remarks from President Donald Trump, who is expected to rally Republicans around their legislative priorities while likely addressing the recent U.S. government operation in Venezuela.

Among the Freedom Caucus’s top priorities is pushing the Senate to take up the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which passed the House last year. The group is also advocating for legislation to limit early voting and reform the census to count only American citizens.

On fiscal matters, the caucus is calling for either reducing or maintaining current federal discretionary spending levels. This aligns with a recently released $174 billion spending bill expected to receive a House vote this week, which would reduce funding for the agencies it covers. However, with six of the 12 required appropriations bills still unreleased and a January 30 shutdown deadline looming, congressional action remains urgent.

The Freedom Caucus has also targeted what it calls “rampant fraud” in Minnesota’s social programs, particularly citing allegations involving Somali daycare centers, COVID-era meal programs, and housing assistance. “Federal prosecutors have estimated that widespread fraud in Minnesota… could exceed $9 billion,” the document states, while claiming such fraud represents “just a drop in the bucket” of an estimated $233 to $521 billion lost annually to federal fraud.

In a controversial proposal, the group calls for denaturalization and deportation of “anyone who has committed fraud against the American taxpayer,” specifically mentioning Minnesota’s Somali community – a measure that would likely face significant legal challenges.

The conservative bloc’s immigration stance is equally hardline, calling for a temporary “freeze all immigration to the U.S., except for (very) temporary tourist visas” to allow for a complete overhaul of the immigration system.

Judicial oversight features prominently in the document, with renewed calls to impeach U.S. federal Judge James Boasberg, though previous efforts failed to gain traction beyond the conservative wing of the GOP. The group also criticized Judge Deborah Boardman for reducing the sentence of an individual who allegedly plotted to kill a Supreme Court Justice.

Perhaps most striking is the call for the United States to completely withdraw from the United Nations and end all funding to the international body, claiming the UN is “openly hostile to the United States.” The caucus specifically endorses H.R. 1498, the DEFUND Act, to achieve this goal.

Other priorities include banning stock trading for members of Congress – an idea that has gained rare bipartisan support but has yet to receive a floor vote – and banning Sharia Law in the U.S., an initiative led by Texas-based Freedom Caucus members.

The House Freedom Caucus, once primarily adversarial to Republican leadership, has gained significant influence during the 119th Congress. Its chairman, Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), has frequently aligned with Speaker Johnson on conservative legislative goals, with Johnson notably speaking at the group’s 10th anniversary celebration last year.

As Republicans navigate a razor-thin House majority and prepare for what’s expected to be a challenging November election cycle, the Freedom Caucus’s policy roadmap represents an assertive push to shape the party’s agenda around conservative priorities.