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Bob Good to step down as Freedom Caucus chair this week

The group may decide to install a former chair as a temporary leader.

By Jordain Carney and Olivia Beavers

Rep. Bob Good‘s (R-Va.) resignation as Freedom Caucus chair will be official by the end of the week, five people familiar with the decision told POLITICO, with the group hoping to land on his successor by Friday.

Good outlined the plan during the group’s closed door meeting Monday night, the first in-person meeting since his primary loss was sealed with a recount last month.

Good told reporters earlier in the day that he had offered his resignation to the board, though he declined to discuss who would succeed him or the timing of when he would formally step down. But two of the people familiar with internal discussions told POLITICO that the ousted lawmaker and the group’s board had already agreed on the plan for his resignation as chair to be effective this week. Good is expected to stay in the group as a member, and in Congress, through the end of the year.

Good’s term as chair goes through the end of 2025, meaning he would have to step down early after his primary loss – it was just a matter of when. He previously told POLITICO that he intended to step down quickly as chair if he lost his primary recount. Good declined to comment as he left the group’s meeting on Monday night.

The group is weighing whether to fill the position temporarily with a chair emeritus through the end of the year. While former chairs are term-limited out, the Freedom Caucus has never had to confront a leader ousted in a primary race. But there is broad consensus within the group to keep their internal leadership elections separate from the November election, something a short-term punt would allow.

Potential candidates include former chairs Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) or Scott Perry (R-Pa.), as POLITICO first reported – with Biggs viewed as the more likely of the two. 

Good lost to John McGuire, a state senator, in the Virginia primary earlier this year after he ran afoul of Donald Trump and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.