Tenure
Perry is a member of the Freedom Caucus. In November 2021, he was elected to chair the group, succeeding Andy Biggs in January 2022; Bob Good succeeded Perry as chair in January 2024.
In October 2017, in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, Perry accused CNN anchor Chris Cuomo of exaggerating the crisis in Puerto Rico.
In January 2018, Perry suggested that ISIS might have been involved in the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, but authorities have maintained that gunman Stephen Paddock acted alone.
In December 2019, Perry was one of 195 Republicans to vote against both articles of impeachment against President Trump.
Perry participated in attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election, including by attempting to replace Pennsylvania's electors. The House committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack sought to question Perry about his role in efforts to install Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark as acting attorney general and his introduction of Clark to President Trump. Perry declined both the committee's initial request and subsequent subpoena, leading to his referral to the House Ethics Panel after the November 2022 elections.
In March 2021, Perry voted against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The bill's main purpose was stated to be economic relief during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Perry claimed the majority of its funds were dedicated to partisan political efforts by the Democratic Party.
In June 2021, Perry was one of 21 House Republicans to vote against a resolution to give the Congressional Gold Medal to police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on January 6. He cosponsored a bill, introduced the same day, that would give the same medal to police officers without mentioning the attack.
In July 2022, Perry was among 47 House Republicans to vote for the Respect for Marriage Act, which would protect the right to same-sex marriage at a federal level by repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. Perry said, "Agree or disagree with same-sex marriage, my vote affirmed my long-held belief that Americans who enter into legal agreements deserve to live their lives without the threat that our federal government will dissolve what they've built." In December 2022, Perry voted against the final version of the bill. He said his initial "yes" vote was a mistake based on a lack of time to review the legislation, claiming that his initial reasoning was primarily focused on protecting interracial marriage at the federal level, but that he did not want to "vote against traditional marriage."
In May 2024, CNN obtained a recording in which Perry told a closed-door briefing of the House Oversight Committee that Ku Klux Klan is "the military wing of the Democratic party" and that migrants coming to the U.S. "have no interest in being Americans." Perry said, "Replacement theory is real. They added white to it to stop everybody from talking about it," in reference to the Great Replacement conspiracy theory in the United States.
In June 2024, Perry shared an antisemitic meme on his Facebook page originating from the Freedom for Humanity mural, which depicts stereotypical Jewish bankers with hooked noses. After being asked about the meme by Jewish Insider, Perry deleted the post.
After voting for the initial version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Perry supported Elon Musk's criticism that "this massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination." Perry questioned House leadership, noting that the House expected the Senate to make major improvements to the bill. In July 2025, Perry voted for passage of the final version of the bill.
In June 2026, Perry, alongside Representative Keith Self, introduced a resolution to repeal the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which allows for the direct selection of U.S. senators by voters. Perry and Self's resolution would eliminate direct elections for the U.S. senate, instead returning to the state legislatures the appointment of senators. The resolution was introduced days after Perry criticized the U.S. Senate for not passing the SAVE America Act, with Perry accusing the Senate of "dereliction of duty".
In March 2021, Perry was one of 14 House Republicans who voted against a measure condemning the Myanmar coup d'état, which overwhelmingly passed.
In July 2021, Perry voted against the bipartisan ALLIES Act, which would increase by 8,000 the number of special immigrant visas for Afghan allies of the U.S. military during its invasion of Afghanistan while also reducing some application requirements that caused long application backlogs; the bill passed in the House 407–16.
In April 2022, Perry voted against a bill to encourage documentation and preservation of Russian war crimes during its invasion of Ukraine.
In 2023, Perry was among 47 Republicans to vote in favor of H.Con.Res. 21, which directed President Joe Biden to remove U.S. troops from Syria within 180 days.
In 2024, Perry voted against two multi-billion-dollar foreign aid packages, which included money for Taiwan, Ukraine, and Israel. Perry opposed House Speaker Mike Johnson's tactic of bundling aid bills, saying he preferred single-subject bills. Perry also objected to $9 billion in humanitarian aid for Gaza, citing the Israeli government's claim that Hamas has been stealing aid intended for Gaza's civilians.
In 2025, amid efforts by DOGE to shut down USAID, Perry claimed that USAID had funded Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram. United States Ambassador to Nigeria Richard Mills said "there is absolutely no evidence" for Perry's claim. Nigerian representative Akin Rotimi announced a parliamentary inquiry into Perry's allegations.
Perry said in April 2026 that the war with Iran is justified. In June 2026, he voted against a war powers resolution that would have limited President Trump's ability to wage war in Iran until congressional consent had been obtained.
Perry frequently opposes proposed climate change policies in Congress, including policies which have support within the GOP. During 2023 testimony before the Foreign Affairs committee by the U.S. special presidential envoy for climate, Perry presented charts that he said showed climate change had stopped since 2016. This position is sharply at odds with the scientific consensus on climate change.
Perry opposes a federal abortion ban. He has "repeatedly stated his support for IVF, and says that he maintains his personal pro-life stance while continuing to leave the issue to the states."
In 2015, Perry claimed on Frank Gaffney's radio show that the Obama administration was collaborating with ISIS. Perry refused to retract this claim but follow-up news reports indicated that he had "softened" the charge. Perry has made multiple guest appearances on Gaffney's radio show; Gaffney is the founder of the Center for Security Policy, which is designated an anti-Muslim hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
In 2016, Perry met with Brigitte Gabriel, founder of ACT for America, an anti-Muslim organization designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Perry called Gabriel "someone who demands (and deserves) to be heard about the security of our nation." Following criticism from a Gettysburg College professor for meeting with Gabriel, Perry denounced the SPLC as an "extremist left-wing organization" and denied that ACT for America was anti-Muslim, saying "One person's hate group is another person's patriot." Perry spoke at ACT for America's national conference where he praised Gabriel as a "hero".
In 2017, Perry criticized the FBI for rescinding training material during the Obama administration that had been characterized as spreading anti-Muslim stereotypes.
In 2021, when Representative Ilhan Omar, who is Muslim, introduced a bill to combat Islamophobia, Perry falsely accused Omar of being "affiliated with" unspecified terrorist organizations. Perry's remark was struck from the congressional record.
In 2025, Perry cosponsored legislation with Chip Roy to oppose Sharia, or Islamic law. The legislation would mandate the deportation of "Sharia-law-adherent aliens" and ban them from entering the United States.
In January 2026, Perry was named a founding member of the Sharia Free America Caucus in Congress, which seeks to ban Sharia law. He said, "We welcome oppressed people from around the globe to enhance and participate in the self governance model that is America; we did not, however, invite them to leave their theological oppression abroad to come and conquer America under the flag of violent submission and oppression that is Sharia law." The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR), a civil rights organization, quoted Perry and other caucus members in a statement designating the Sharia Free America Caucus an anti-Muslim hate group and saying the caucus's agenda "would effectively ban the practice of the world's second largest religion in the United States."
