Republicans should tread carefully
When Republicans finally secured a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy held a news conference.
“I’m proud to announce the era of one-party Democrat rule in Washington is over,” he said. “Washington now has a check and balance. The American people have a say in their government.” We can’t argue with that.
Checks and balances are a critical part of our system of government. By exercising oversight, House Republicans would simply be doing their jobs.
Of course, they might also be getting revenge.
When they won control four years ago, Democrats launched a number of investigations Republicans considered to be partisan, and now that the shoe is on the other foot, Republicans are eager to return the favor.
Rep. James Comer, the likely chair of the powerful House Oversight Committee, has promised a thorough investigation of the business dealings of President Joseph R. Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.
“The reason we are investigating Hunter Biden is because we believe he is a national security threat,” Comer told Fox News last month, “but we are also concerned that Hunter’s shady business dealings have compromised Joe Biden.”
The White House has been honing its response.
“They said they were going to fight inflation,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. “They said they were going to make that a priority, then they get the majority and their top priority is actually not focusing on the American family, but focusing on the president’s family.”
Newly elected Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York is among those hoping his caucus doesn’t get carried away.
“The top priority is to deal with inflation and the cost of living …” he told CNN. “What I don’t want to see is what we saw in the Trump administration, where Democrats went after the president and the administration incessantly.”
House Republicans have also promised investigations into immigration, government spending and parental rights. They also want to examine the precipitous withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.
And then, of course, there’s the threat of impeachment, a prospect McCarthy has tried to play down.
“We will not play politics with it,” he told reporters.
Republicans might also take aim at Cabinet members such as Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Garland would be targeted over the Justice Department’s investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents. Mayorkas would be on the hot seat over the Biden administration’s handling of the record number of migrants crossing the Southern border.
All of this is fair game, and if the investigations result in worthwhile legislation, that’s all the better. But if oversight evolves into politics, voters will have every reason to object.
Some members of McCarthy’s caucus remember what happened in the 1990s when Republicans launched investigation after investigation aimed at then-President Bill Clinton. The effort backfired with Clinton growing more popular and some Republicans losing their seats.
The newly minted House majority would do well to keep that in mind.