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Giving plum committee jobs could get House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy the votes he needs to fulfill his dream of becoming speaker, but some Republicans are worried it will affect the party if the California representative resigns as Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren. Boebert is leading his planned scouting blitz.
Jason C. Roe, a former House aide and now GOP strategist, said putting Greene, of Georgia, or Boebert, of Colorado, on the House Oversight Committee in the 118th Congress — something Oversight Committee position James Comer said — would be “a disaster.”
“It could feed the MAGA crowd to spill political blood. But it’s going to be a lot of time on SNL and continue to poison Republicans and independents,” Roe told Insider about the potential political implications of giving conspiracy theorists to work through the McCarthy investigation’s laundry list. done in the last two years.
An unnamed GOP representative currently on the watchdog panel sounded similarly alarmed, telling The Washington Post that “if you want to be taken seriously, you have to take the issue seriously.”
“The question is: Can Comer rein in some new members — like a woman from Georgia — who doesn’t care about stuff and stuff about their Twitter profile?” a member of the Oversight Committee spoke about the importance of keeping congressional probes above board.
Boebert and Greene did not immediately respond to requests for comment on what they want to do with the committee or what their investigative priorities are for next year. McCarthy’s office has always told Insider that the House GOP steering committee, led by McCarthy, will carry out the duties of the next Congress “in a timely manner.”
Once House Republicans take power in the chamber on January 3, McCarthy and Comer plan to release the majority’s investigative powers against President Joe Biden, his embattled son Hunter Biden, outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI director Chris. Wray, and other suspected political enemies.
Aaron Cutler, a former assistant to the House GOP leadership and now a partner at Hogan Lovells, urged House Republicans to avoid “focusing on the wrong things,” and to cut the bait if necessary.
Proving that Republicans are serious
That includes “knowing when to let something go or let it peter out, as opposed to giving more time and resources” to the lost, Cutler said. See the article : Best of Week 9 Practice | 11.04.22.
Liz Mair, a former aide to the Republican National Committee and now a public relations consultant, said selecting the targets of the investigation could help House Republicans drum up interest in the other chamber.
Mair speculates that Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Ron Johnson is the most likely partner – assuming things go well. Johnson serves as a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
“I think Mitch would be in favor of looking at what happened with the withdrawal from Afghanistan, some waste of money, some energy production issues, and IRS politics,” he wrote in an email. He added that if violent intervention leads to good governance, even by accident, that may still be important.
“It’s possible that people want to do these things mainly for political reasons to put real points on the board that aren’t related to management gigs or corporate pads, which are better for themselves,” Mair told Insider.
Cutler, for his part, said he saw an opportunity for bipartisan and cross-chamber cooperation on issues related to China such as trade problems, the abuse of Uyghur workers, and national security. He said that he can see the promised CCIDID-19 the beginning of the investigation, which is expected to stop the retired White House adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, which is a House-only initiative.
Whether they hold the Democratic-controlled Senate or not, Cutler said House GOP leaders need to release more research if they hope to stay in power past 2024.
“President McCarthy will also need to craft a policy that sends a strong message to the American people that Republicans are committed to governing and leading,” Cutler told Insider.
Some of the lawmakers who won Cutler said he wants to see the GOP notch in the new year including dealing with the debt ceiling, sufficient government funding, giving permission to end the Federal Aviation Administration and Farm Bill contracts, putting more guardrails in place of cryptocurrency. , and “perhaps another currency exchange.”
Giving the next election to beating Hunter Biden instead of fulfilling campaign promises to fix the economy, the southern border, and crime will destroy the party, Roe warned.
Keeping everyone busy
“There needs to be attention to issues that are important to the American people every day, not to look for past injustices,” he said, adding that “Republicans run the risk of eliminating independents if they are only defined by their investigation in the 2024 election. Read also : Bain Capital Loses Money From Cheerleading Antitrust Case.”
Cutler predicted that the leaders of the House would ensure that any monitoring effort is carried out in a “serious and thoughtful” manner.
“That said, there is a real prospect of fraud – because of the topics involved and some of the lawmakers who might want to be involved,” he said.
Throwing Greene and Boebert into the mix would seem inappropriate, Mair said — unless confusing them with unfettered Biden bashing frees up McCarthy elsewhere.
“I don’t think any of these members have demonstrated the ability to lead the investigation,” Mair said. “But it might be a good way to distract them with something that gives them the headlines they want on one issue and not cause problems in other areas.”
Thinking that another showdown may be inevitable at this point, Roe urged House Republicans to step up.
“Any high-profile issues are going to be a platform for clicks, so we can expect a lot of inquiries,” Roe said of the appeal of local control. He added that investing time and effort in conducting a strong investigation “could be a way to launch political ambitions.”
Creating an informal statement can help others climb the ladder, Mair said. But he’s sure it won’t do much for McCarthy’s future.
