Republicans in the House — Perpetual Misguidance and Dereliction of Duty
Every since the mid-term elections and Republicans winning a majority in the House of Representatives, their new leadership, under who will soon be majority leader, Kevin McCarthy, has made no secret of their plans to prioritize investigations into Democratic opponents, including President Biden. Not to govern effectively, or find solutions to the many issues faced by everyday Americans, but to investigate opponents.
This, in itself, is not surprising given the ridiculously hostile and dysfunctional climate in Washington among Congresspeople of different parties. What is remarkable — and despicable — is that a priority among these investigations will be to target the Jan 6 Commission, the bipartisan committee that has been diligently investigating the events of the domestic terror attack on the U.S. Congress on Jan 6, 2021.
Soon-to-be majority leader, McCarthy, warned of this in a letter sent to the committee’s chairman on Nov 30.
Stop. Let’s consider this for a moment.
On Jan 6, 2021, a violent mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building while Congress was in session, illegally broke into offices, damaged and looted federal government property, attacked Capitol police officers defending the premises (one officer died, as a result, and dozens were injured), and threatened Congresspeople with bodily harm (legally known as, assault). All because they believed the Big Lie perpetuated by Donald Trump, that the election had been stolen from him, and were determined to interfere with the usual peaceful transition of power that is a cornerstone of American democracy.
Hundreds of these mob members have since been rightly arrested and prosecuted, with many sentenced to prison. It does not take a legal scholar to understand why: You break the law, you pay the price.
In the aftermath of such an event, reasonably-minded Americans would expect the Congress to investigate the actions of that day. To do otherwise would, at a minimum, legitimize the mob’s actions. And yet, for House republicans, the priority as they assume a majority in January, will be not to continue the valid investigations, but to investigate the investigators.
It is no surprise that McCarthy, an avid Trump supporter and persistent election denier, along with other House republicans soon to be elevated in status within the new majority, such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, a veritable toilet bowl of bigotry, lies, ignorance, denial, and hate, would make a priorty investigating the work of the Jan 6 Commission. What is surprising is how brazenly and proudly McCarthy publicly announces his intentions. As though being an ignorant sycophant is a badge of honor for the next House majority leader.
Despite how despicable McCarthy’s behavior may be, the more disappointing reality is that this is what the U.S. Congress has become: a kindergarten sandbox where petty partisan grievances are played out tit-for-tat against political opponents. And often, the most petty have been instigated by Republicans. McCarthy’s continuance of this shameful tradition is, sadly, not suprising.
Prioritizing investigations into political opponents instead of doing the work of the American people is a dereliction of duty in itself for any Congressperson. Prioriting investigation into a bipartisan committee that has taken up the important task of investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol of Jan 6 goes beyond that. It proliferates the misguided manner in which House Republicans have pursued their representative responsibility to the American public.
