In the name of political expediency and to make life as painful as possible for President Trump and his allies, House Democrats under the leadership of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the illegitimate January 6 Committee made the conscious decision to set new precedent and change the rules when it comes to legislative branch power and congressional oversight. In doing so, they didn’t change things temporarily, they changed things forever. Republican committee chairman should now utilize the new rules accordingly.
Apparently, Attorney General Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice didn’t get the memo. Recently, DOJ attempted a return to pre-Trump precedent when they informed House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, that they wouldn’t be cooperating with his document requests and will instead commence with the customary foot-dragging that used to be part of the "give and take" in our system of checks and balances -- until now.
On account of the decisions made by Trump-deranged Democrats and Attorney General Garland himself, stonewalling Congress is no longer an accepted norm. The January 6 Committee created a new standard of "no mercy" and the Biden administration took full advantage of it. In essence, this means that no one can run out the clock out on Congress without serious consequences -- not even political appointees at the Justice Department.
To put things in the proper context, this dramatic change in precedent is crashing into the least transparent administration in history.
For the past two years, the Biden administration was not forced to answer any tough questions from either the Democrat majority in Congress or the biased mainstream media.
Because of that disastrous arrangement, President Biden, his cabinet, senior staffers, and faceless bureaucrats mistakenly believe they’re all untouchable.
Thankfully for the American people, with the election of the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives, there’s finally someone minding the store in Washington.
Republicans have been entrusted with the majority in the U.S. House -- the People’s House -- partly because millions of citizens believe the Biden administration is in dire need of some accountability.
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Americans want answers about our open southern border, Biden’s botched Afghanistan withdrawal, the targeting of parents who attend school board meetings, COVID-19 origins, Joe Biden’s mishandling of classified information and his family’s foreign business ties, and the unprecedented raid of Mar-a-Lago.
Telling congressional Republicans, "Sorry, it’s really none of your business," is no longer a sustainable strategy because of the changes that were put into place during the previous Congress.
The Justice Department isn’t a fortress; it’s part of your government that’s supposed to be of the people, for the people, and by the people.
Everyone knows that the executive branch has grown far too big and powerful, but that doesn’t mean Congress is no longer a co-equal branch of government.
Republicans in the House must use all powers at their disposal -- along with the new precedent that’s been set -- to keep the executive branch from becoming an unaccountable monarchy or in the words of Joe Biden -- an autocracy.
Some of these powers include subpoenas and the ability to hold individuals and entities in contempt of Congress. But in the words of Eric Clapton, "it’s in the way that you use it."
In the post-January 6 Committee world that we live in, document requests that are brushed aside must be followed up with subpoenas without delay. And subpoenas that are refused must be enforced and complied with or met with speedy contempt of Congress votes and criminal referrals.
Criminal referrals must be handled in a totally non-partisan fashion and fully investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s office in the District of Columbia.
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If the evidence supports a criminal indictment, then charges should be brought. This is the "Bannon-Navarro" contempt of Congress doctrine that the Democrats created; we can’t have a two-tiered system of justice in this country.
Republicans in Congress have their work cut out for them, there’s no doubt about that. America has a $31 trillion national debt, critical race theory and woke culture are infecting our public schools, deadly fentanyl is pouring across our border, and social media companies are censoring free speech.
These are trying times indeed and moving the ball down the field with a small majority will be tough every step of the way -- but this is no time to back down from a fight.
The Democrats made their bed, now they have to lie in it. The Biden administration must not be allowed to go back to playing by the rulebook that they just ran roughshod over to achieve their political goals.
So, send the subpoenas, demand transparency, and hold them accountable -- using the new rules they created.
