WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� House Republicans moved Tuesday to swiftly establish the marquee investigations of their new majority, voting to create panels focused on China and what they assert is rampant abuse of power in the federal government.
Newly empowered, are vowing to bring accountability to the Biden administration, pledging to investigate federal law enforcement agencies, including those that are conducting probes into former President Donald Trump.
Republicans also established a committee, with broad bipartisan support, to investigate 鈥渟trategic competition鈥� between the U.S. and China, in line with the party's push for a more hardline approach to the Asian nation.
The creation of the committees is the first of many investigative steps Republicans plan to take as they settle into their slim majority and attempt to serve as a check against President Joe Biden and his agenda on Capitol Hill.
It amounts to a massive reshuffling away from the oversight priorities of Democrats, who used their majority to form a select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. That committee is no more, and Republicans have no plans to revive it, vowing instead to take a closer look at the actions of law enforcement.
Republicans officially labeled one of the committees as reviewing 鈥渢he Weaponization of the Federal Government,鈥� a name that from the outset suggests the panel鈥檚 investigations may be one-sided. The probe will be conducted under the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee, which is headed by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a hardliner who is a close ally of Trump.
The committee is being given a broad mandate, told to investigate 鈥渢he expansive role鈥� of the executive branch to 鈥渃ollect information on or otherwise investigate citizens of the United States, including ongoing criminal investigations." Notably, the panel will have access to classified information, a privilege usually reserved for the intelligence committees in the House and Senate.
First up is investigating what they call a coordinated effort by Justice Department 鈥渢o go after parents鈥� and deem them domestic terrorists following an increase of threats targeting school board members, teachers and other employees in the nation鈥檚 public schools.
鈥淭he real focus has always been what 14 FBI agents have come and told Judiciary Republican staff about what鈥檚 going on with the FBI and the very first one was on the school board,鈥� Jordan told reporters Monday. 鈥淲e鈥檒l start with those individuals and we鈥檒l move from there once we get up and running with who鈥檚 on our committee.鈥�
The GOP focus on issues like parents鈥� rights in schools stems from the unruliness that engulfed local education meetings across the country since the pandemic began, with board members regularly confronted and threatened by angry protesters. There is no evidence the FBI ever declared protesting parents 鈥渄omestic terrorists," despite Republican rhetoric.
Jordan, who is expected to lead the investigation, said the committee is modeled after the bipartisan 鈥淐hurch Committee," a 1970s congressional investigation that sought to investigate allegations that the U.S. government spied on its own citizens for decades. That investigation led to significant reforms with the passage of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which requires intelligence agencies to seek permission from a secret court before surveilling Americans.
Democrats opposed the creation of the committee, calling it a partisan tool for Republicans to go after the Justice Department as Trump is the subject of several federal criminal investigations, including for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results and his handling and storing of presidential records at Mar-a-Lago.
鈥淩epublicans claim to care about law enforcement. But this new committee is about attacking law enforcement,鈥� Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., the ranking member of the Rules Committee, said on the House floor. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about going after people. It鈥檚 about destroying people鈥檚 careers and lives. It鈥檚 about undermining the Department of Justice.鈥�
The sharply partisan debate over the Judiciary committee stood in stark contrast to the bipartisan support for the China panel, which will be led by Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin. Members of both parties said more attention should be devoted to the global implications of China's economic competition strategy.
鈥淵ou have my word and my commitment. This is not a partisan committee,鈥� Speaker Kevin McCarthy said. 鈥淭hat is my hope, my desire, my wish that we speak with one voice that we focus on the challenges that we have.鈥�
He added, 鈥淭he threat is too great for us to bicker with ourselves.鈥� Close to 150 Democrats voted for the committee's creation on Tuesday.
Who will serve on either committee beyond the chairs will be a decision for congressional leaders. The House is in the process of seating the various standing committees, a process that is expected to be contentious as McCarthy has already pledged to retaliate against Democrats for removing several far-right members from their committee assignments in the last Congress.
Some of the names being floated for the Judiciary subcommittee include Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., whose phone was seized in August as part of the Justice Department's investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection.
鈥淲hy should I be limited just because someone has made an accusation?" Perry said in a Sunday interview on ABC鈥檚 鈥淭his Week鈥� with host George Stephanopoulos. 鈥淓verybody in America is innocent until proven guilty.鈥�
But Democrats are alleging that members like Perry and Jordan will be using the committee as a way to push back on agencies that are investigating them and their allies.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e effectively trying to pardon themselves with the creation of this select committee,鈥� McGovern said. 鈥淭his is unconscionable.鈥�
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An earlier version of this story mistakenly reported that the National Security Agency was a byproduct of the work of the 鈥淐hurch Committee.鈥� That reference has been deleted.
Farnoush Amiri, The Associated Press
