Trump-era policies on GOP agenda
Republicans will push forward measures to tackle the influx of migrants at the US border with Mexico in their first legislation if they take back control of Congress, as they seek to depict Democrats as soft on crime and security.
A bill to restore former president Donald Trump’s ‘‘remain in Mexico’’ policy, requiring asylum seekers to wait on the other side of the border while their cases are processed, is likely to be first in line if, as expected, Democrats lose their majority in the House of Representatives.
Republicans would use a majority in the House to pass bills aimed at highlighting the differences between the parties on crime, spending and immigration, as well as starting investigations into the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the Biden Administration’s approach to school board meetings.
Another focus will be the international business dealings of US President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden, and whether the elder Biden played a direct role, which he has denied.
Republicans blame Biden’s reversal of Trump’s policies for encouraging record numbers of migrants to try to cross the border this year.
Some Republicans want to bring impeachment proceedings against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over the border, against Biden for his son’s business affairs, and against US Attorney-General Merrick Garland for authorising a raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
Another familiar figure who will face investigations is Anthony Fauci, the 81-year-old virus expert who advised Trump and Biden on the pandemic, and who is stepping down as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases next month.
He will be called as part of an inquiry into the origins of Covid-19, amid suspicions from some Republicans – denied by Fauci – that the US Government funded research on viruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in central China that could have led to the development of the virus.
The most immediate change in Congress if the Republicans get control will be symbolic – they plan to remove metal detectors installed at the doors of the House chamber after the riot on January 6 last year.