PRESS RELEASE Contact: press@congressionalintegrity.org
For Immediate Release
Date: November 22, 2022
Washington D.C. – Today, Kevin McCarthy held a political stunt in El Paso, where he suggested he was going to investigate and possibly impeach Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. In response, Congressional Integrity Project Executive Director Kyle Herrig said the following,
“For the second week in a row, the incoming House Majority has shown that their promise to help Americans with pocketbook issues was nothing more than a lie. All they want to do is get more power. McCarthy’s political stunt straight out of the Trump playbook is intended only to shore up the MAGA Republicans so he can get the votes for Speaker.
“Where were they when Trump was wasting billions on a sham border wall that could be scaled with a ladder purchased at a hardware store? Where were they when the country heard the sounds of children crying for their parents after being forcibly separated at the border? Kevin McCarthy and his MAGA Republican cronies only care about one thing: partisan political stunts to help themselves while they ignore the concerns of the vast majority of the American people.”
For Years, Republicans Ignored Oversight of the Trump Administration’s Disastrous Border Policies
House Republicans Refused to Provide Oversight Into Trump’s Failed Border Policies. The Trump administration’s disastrous border policies created an inhumane environment at the southern border. In 2019, the CBP declared a “humanitarian and national security border crisis.” Humanitarian organizations reported a sharp rise in human rights abuses during detention encounters as the administration mounted a failed response to the surge in border crossings. [Pew Research Center, 3/2/20; CNN, 3/23/21; ACLU, 4/20/20; Human Rights Watch, 4/30/20]
February 2019: Comer And House Oversight Committee Republicans Opposed Bipartisan Efforts To Investigate The Policy Of Forced Child Separation Along The Southern Border, Including Opposing Subpoenas Against Trump Cabinet Officials. “After a heated exchange and a rehashing of the political debate over the Trump administration’s child separation policy, the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Tuesday approved the first subpoenas of the executive branch for the 116th Congress. In a 25-11 roll call vote [opposed by Rep. James Comer], the committee authorized the issuance of subpoenas to Attorney General William Barr, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar. The committee subpoenaed documents that would identify the children and parents of any families separated under the policy, the locations and facilities where they were held, and whether reunification has since occurred, among other information.” [CQ Roll Call, 2/26/19]
Jim Jordan Opposed Bipartisan Oversight Efforts Into the Trump Administration’s Child Separation Policy. Rep. Jim Jordan and Republicans on the House Oversight Committee strongly opposed bipartisan efforts to investigate the policy of forced child separation along the southern border: “After a heated exchange and a rehashing of the political debate over the Trump administration’s child separation policy, the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Tuesday approved the first subpoenas of the executive branch for the 116th Congress. […] As chairman, Cummings has the authority to issue subpoenas himself but scheduled the committee vote because of a commitment he made to the panel’s ranking member Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.” [CQ Roll Call, 2/26/19]
July 2019: House Republicans Were Virtually Silent As Evidence of Waste & Mismanagement At the Border Piled Up. After Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) released a report detailing waste, mismanagement and poor planning of former President Trump’s border wall construction, House Republicans were virtually silent. Rep. Jim Jordan instead took to Fox News to claim that Trump bore no responsibility for unrest unfolding during his presidency, deflecting blame to so-called violence in urban areas. [U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security, 7/16/20; Fox News YouTube, 7/20/20]
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