Brenda J. Thiam

During her run for Hagerstown city council, Thiam said she supported addressing the opioid epidemic and improving the city's bond credit rating, and opposed raising taxes. Upon being appointed to the Maryland House of Delegates, she said that her legislative priorities included the opioid epidemic and the Blueprint for Maryland's Future, which she opposed. She also described herself as "pro-life", expressing interest in working with legislators to promote family planning options other than abortions, and said she opposed the "defund the police" movement. Thiam supported the reelection campaign of President Donald Trump in the 2020 United States presidential election.

During the 2021 legislative session, Thiam introduced a bill that would require students to pass a civics test before they could graduate from high school, as well as the "Learning at Home Relief Act", which would provide a $250 per child tax credit toward costs associated with online school, such as child care and internet services. Both bills failed to move out of committee. She also voted for the Maryland Police Accountability Act of 2021, which repealed the Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights, and against the Plastic Bag Reduction Act, a bill to ban the sale of plastic bags and to require stores to charge a minimum of 10 cents for paper bags. In February 2021, during debate on a bill to extend the earned-income tax credit to immigrants, Thiam introduced an amendment that required that benefits only go to "taxpayers of lawful status in the United States". The amendment was rejected by a 48-91 vote.

In October 2021, Thiam was one of five Maryland state legislators from Garrett, Allegany and Washington counties who sent a pair of letters to West Virginia officials asking about annexation of Western Maryland to West Virginia. The letters were later withdrawn by their authors, House Minority Leader Jason C. Buckel and state senator George C. Edwards, following criticism from local officials and some constituents.

During the 2022 legislative session, Thiam introduced a bill to allow municipalities to establish Police Accountability Boards and another to prohibit dirt bike drivers from committing motor vehicle offenses; both bills died in committee. She also expressed concerns with proposals to legalize recreational marijuana in Maryland, questioning whether black Marylanders would be able to make money from the recreational market. In March 2022, during debate on a bill creating a statewide ballot referendum on codifying the right to abortion access, Thiam introduced an amendment requiring the Maryland Department of Health to collect data regarding abortions performed in the state, including gestational age and number of abortions performed. The amendment was rejected by the Maryland House of Delegates by a 39-83 vote.

In January 2022, Thiam filed a lawsuit against the legislative district maps drawn by the Maryland General Assembly during the 2020 redistricting cycle, seeking to replace the newly passed map with one that uses only single-member districts. The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled 4-3 against the plaintiffs in April 2022, upholding the legislature's map.

In April 2022, following a spike in gas prices as the result of the Russo-Ukrainian War, Thiam supported Maryland's brief gas tax holiday, which she later made efforts to extend by an additional 45 days. She also introduced legislation to decouple the state's gas tax from inflation, which failed to pass out of committee.

In July 2022, Thiam said that she supported voter identification requirements, automatic voter registration, and increased purging of voter rolls.

In 2023, Thiam testified in support of a bill to allow municipalities to enforce laws against driving dirt bikes on public roads.

During her 2024 congressional campaign, Thiam said that she supported restarting construction on the Trump wall and opposed mask and vaccine mandates imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also said that she disagreed with Judge Deborah Boardman's ruling against requiring the Montgomery County Public Schools system to provide parents with the ability to opt their students out of classroom instruction on LGBTQ topics, and opposed removing Donald Trump from the 2024 presidential election ballot under the Fourteenth Amendment, saying that she did not believe that the January 6 U.S. Capitol attack was an insurrection. Thiam also expressed support for abolishing the U.S. Department of Education.

In October 2023, amid the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel and subsequent Israel–Hamas war, Thiam expressed support for Israel and its right to defend itself, as well as the expansion of the Abraham Accords and humanitarian efforts in Gaza; however, she later said that she opposed giving foreign aid to any country without first addressing domestic issues and implementing limits on how much aid could be given and for how long. Thiam also opposed calls for a ceasefire in the war, saying that it would allow Hamas to retreat and restrategize for another, deadlier attack on Israel.