The Democrats sure have enjoyed the power they have right now in holding political hearings over issues they hope will build their platform in the November midterm elections.
But the GOP is still likely to prevail and take over the House again. They might still be limited on what they can do legislatively, but they are gearing up for some major inquiries.
There will likely be hearings on the chaos at the border, the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, the baby formula fiasco, and more.
President Joe Biden’s last two years will be filled with agonizing investigations. And Hunter Biden is going to be top on the list. By the time the 2024 election happens, the Democratic Party may be down and out.
GOP lawmakers are already getting ready to decide which committee will get to investigate which issue next year. Talks are happening with Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other conference leaders.
“I’ve been really impressed with leadership — both from [Rep.] Jim [Jordan], from [Rep.] Jamie Comer, from Kevin’s office — in already starting to talk about that,” said Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.).
As Republicans plan for 2023, they are seeing executive oversight as a major portion of their agenda. These investigations will give the House leaders in the GOP some high-profile opportunities to render subpoenas and ask tough questions to officials in the Biden camp. They are set on holding the Biden White House accountable.
Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) said recently in an interview that the GOP is going to nail down a timeline for each investigation and they have already taken the first steps like document preservation requests. They see the big challenge as winnowing down the list of things they would like to investigate
“It’s not something where we’re having to drum up, ‘OK, what are we going to do?’ It’s more of a limiting factor of, we only have 50 weeks a year,” said Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas).
Most of the emphasis will be on the Oversight Committee. It has the jurisdictional ability to reach into the White House administration.
Jamie Comer is the Kentucky Republican who is expected to lead the committee if the GOP takes the majority in November. He has been busy laying the groundwork so that his team can hit the ground running in January.
“We’re going to spend a lot of time in the first three, four months having investigation hearings and then we’re going to be very active in the subcommittee process, focused on substantive waste, fraud and abuse type issues. … I’m going to bring the Oversight Committee back to what its original intent was,” Comer said in a brief interview.
The border chaos will be a prime example of an investigation that would cover several committees.
“We certainly need to dig into more of the terrible ways Mayorkas has run — I think intentionally — the way he has the Department of Homeland Security,” Ohio Republican Jim Jordan said.
And Republicans are still figuring out how they will investigate the Jan. 6 panel and Capitol security. Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis, the current top Republican on the House Administration Committee, had promised to use his panel as an investigative springboard into the select committee next year.
Republicans are preparing oversight hearings that will give almost every committee a pathway into government agencies.
“Oversight is going to be significant. And we’ll have significant oversight of the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as the [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau],” said Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.). He hopes to chair the Financial Services Committee.
It’s going to be a long final two years for President Joe Biden as he finishes his first and hopefully final term.
