Key Republican says party must assure voters it will impeach Garland, force overhaul at DOJ

The incoming chairman of the House Freedom Caucus says congressional Republicans must create a clear agenda and messaging in the 2022 election to overcome voter perceptions that there's little difference between the establishment parties in an era of freewheeling spending and large government.

"We need to be in contact with more individual citizens and every single district in every state bringing the message to them so that they understand what the difference is and that there is a true difference," Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) told Just the News.

"A lot of people say, 'Well, look, there's not a dime's worth of difference between Republicans and Democrats.' And you know this, John, when it comes to the establishment cartel in Washington that can't stop spending taxpayer money, there is some truth to that," he acknowledged, adding that "we should be here to say, 'Just do what you said you were going to do.'"

One way House Republicans can distinguish themselves in next year's races is to pledge to impeach Attorney General Merrick Garland if they take control of Congress, showing voters there will be an overhaul of the Justice Department after years of politicization and prosecutorial overreach ranging from the Russia collusion probe to the targeting of parents protesting school board policies.

America "needs a new chief executive, or somebody completely different at the top of the Justice Department, which is why I've called for and introduced articles of impeachment for Merrick Garland," Perry said during an interview this month on the John Solomon Reports podcast.

"Whether it's overly politicized use of the Justice Department on political adversaries, to going after parents, he's got to go, but we can't just have another replacement for him, we need a wholesale review and cleaning of half in the Justice Department," he said.

Perry was elected earlier this month as chairman of the Freedom Caucus, which started a decade ago as a home to the party's most conservative lawmakers and has grown to be a significant voice in the House GOP with nearly 30 members.

Perry said Republicans need to make clear next year's election is a choice between big government socialism and free market capitalism and limited government.

"I know it's hard to accept, but [the Democrats] want to tear down the system that you love, that works great,” he said. "That's the free market, competitive market system. And they want to replace it with a socialist, top-down government system that decides what you'll get, and how much you'll like it, including the car you drive."

To draw the distinction, Republicans need a clear agenda that stands for energy independence, law and order, funding the police, securing the border, reducing spending and opposing encroaching government regulation that drives up inflation and harms workers.

For candidates who espouse that agenda, "the Freedom Caucus is going to articulate those messages right alongside you, but then also encourage you to stand by those promises by voting for them," he said.

He said his goal is to be "showing everybody that even in marginal districts, people support candidates and representatives that do what they said they were going to do."

The Pennsylvania Republican said his party must do more to seize the narrative, like explaining to voters how the current supply chain crisis can be traced in part to progressive policies like Assembly Bill 5, which essentially outlawed independent, non-union truck drivers at the California ports.

"They have created the supply chain shortages, by policies like AB 5  in California, which outlaws independent truckers," he said. "And we wonder why we can't get our goods to market, it's because they fired everybody."