WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are promising aggressive oversight of the Biden administration once they take over the majority next year, with a focus on the affairs of the president’s son Hunter Biden, illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border and the origins of COVID. -19.
Republicans won’t have enough votes to advance key legislative priorities without Democratic consensus, but their oversight of government agencies could put Democrats on the defensive and erode support for the Biden administration in the 2024 presidential election.
Some lawmakers expected to conduct such investigations once House Republicans chose their new committee chairs:
The great role of justice
Representative. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is expected to be the next chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Jordan helped form and then lead the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus and voted on January 6, 2021 to oppose the Pennsylvania recount. President Donald Trump thought so well of Jordan that he awarded the congressman the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
AP Photo/Michael Conroy, archive
The Judiciary Committee oversees the justice and homeland security departments and issues such as crime, immigration, and the protection of civil liberties. It’s usually one of the most partisan committees on Capitol Hill, but Jordan’s combative style stands out even there. The committee would be where any attempt to impeach a member of the Biden administration would begin, as some Republicans have proposed to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Jordan’s investigations into the administration in recent months make clear that the committee will investigate the FBI’s execution of a search warrant at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. He also called for a comprehensive look at the Biden administration’s immigration policies and the origins of COVID-19.
“All these things need to be investigated just to find out the truth,” Jordan told conservative activists at a conference last summer. “It will also frame the 2024 race when I hope and believe President Trump will run again and we need to make sure he wins.”
Long watch list
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., is expected to be the next chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee and has made it clear that investigating President Joe Biden’s son Hunter will be one of his top priorities. Republicans say their investigation into Hunter Biden’s dealings is to “determine whether these activities compromise the national security of the United States and President Biden’s ability to govern properly.”
Comer also laid the groundwork for investigating the situation at the US-Mexico border. He sent a letter to Mayorkas requesting a series of documents and communications related to the administration’s border policy. “We cannot tolerate another year of the Biden administration’s failed border policies,” the letter said.
But this is only part of the commission’s opinion.
“We’re going to be investigating 40 to 50 different things,” Comer said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet The Press.” “We have the capacity. We’ll have 25 members on the committee and we’ll have a staff of almost 70. So we have a chance to investigate a lot of things.”
Federal government spending in response to COVID-19 will also be reviewed.
“We believe that hundreds of billions, if not trillions of dollars have been wasted in the name of COVID over the past three years under two administrations.
“We want to have hearings on this. We want to try to determine what happened to the fraudulent unemployment insurance funds, the fraudulent PPP loan funds, some of that money that is being spent for state and local governments in COVID stimulus money,” Comer said.
Afghanistan in the foreground
Rep. Michael McCaul, D-Texas, is expected to be the next chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which will investigate the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. McCaul reiterated a request in mid-October for various documents and ordered the State Department to preserve all documents related to the chaotic withdrawal, which included the loss of 13 U.S. service members killed in a suicide bombing.
“The way this was done was a disaster and a disgrace to our veterans who served in Afghanistan. They deserve answers to the many questions we have,” McCaul said on ABC’s “This Week.” He added: “Why was there no evacuation plan? How did it get so bad?”
Beware of energy and taxes
Representative. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., is expected to serve as the next chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has the broadest jurisdiction of any congressional authorization committee, from health care to environmental protection to national energy policy . Republicans on the committee have already spent months investigating the origins of COVID-19 and expect to continue that work in the next Congress.
Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., Adrian Smith, R-Neb. and Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., have expressed interest in serving as the next chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee, which has already sought spending documents in the nearly $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package which Democrats approved early last year. year. The committee also has oversight of the IRS, a frequent target of GOP scrutiny and scorn.
Other key points
Likely leaders of other important committees:
— Committee on Agriculture: Glenn Thompson, R-Pa.
— Appropriations Committee: Kay Granger, R-Texas.
Armed Services Committee: Mike Rogers, R-Ala.
— Budget Committee: Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa., Buddy Carter, R-Ga. and Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, have all expressed interest in the presidency.
— Financial Services Committee: Patrick McHenry, RN.C.
Homeland Security Committee: Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, Mark Green, R-Tenn. and Clay Higgins, R-La., have all expressed interest in the president.
– Intelligence Committee: Michael Turner, R-Ohio
– Natural Resources Committee: Bruce Westerman, R-Ark.
— Committee on Science, Space and Technology: Frank Lucas, R-Okla.
— Transportation and Infrastructure Committee: Sam Graves, R-Mo.
— Committee on Veterans Affairs: Mike Bost, R-Ill.
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