'Far-left radical': Progressive House Dems elect police defunding proponent despite calls to moderate

Texas Democratic Rep. Greg Casar, the newly elected chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, spent years as a City Council member in Austin and led the charge to strip funding from local law enforcement - at one point bragging about it on social media.

Casar's history as a public official, particularly at the local level, does not illustrate moderation, according to Dennis Farris, president of the Austin Police Retired Officers Association. 

"'Far-left radical' is a really good way to describe what he did in [Austin]," said Farris.

In 2017, Casar led a charge to reject a mutually agreed upon contract between the City of Austin and the Austin Police Association, setting off a wave of retirements and hiring issues due to the uncertainty around job security and benefits for officers. Meanwhile, in 2020, Casar led the drafting of legislation to strip more than $100 million in funding to the police department, which included the elimination of funding from three planned police cadet classes. Instead, the reallocated funds went to programs related to abortion access, affordable housing and food security. 

During his time as a City Council member in Austin, Casar also authored two "Freedom City" resolutions, which eliminated the use of discretionary arrests for certain non-violent crimes and required police to inform people that they are legally allowed to deny requests for immigration papers. Other policies Casar supported in his position as City Council member included a ban on non-lethal police munitions and certain chokeholds.

As a member of Congress, Casar has continued putting pressure on Austin's police officers, as well. 

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the same day as Casar's caucus election victory, NBC News published a story about the sophomore congressman in which he echoed much of the analysis from other Democrats that an intra-party shift is necessary.   

"We are now at a place where we have to put winning way above being right all the time," he told the outlet. "It's less of a left-right fight and more of a getting back to a Democratic Party that's for everyday people, no longer being seen as preachy or disconnected."

Nonetheless, during a press conference following his victory, Casar said, "If the Democratic Party was a little more like Chairwoman [Washington Rep. Pramila] Jayapal and a little less like [West Virginia Sen.] Joe Manchin, I think we would have won this election." Jayapal is the outgoing chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and has similarly led efforts to defund the police.

Fox News Digital reached out to Casar's office for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.