Republicans are keeping their campaign promises after winning the House majority, voting Tuesday to establish two new investigative panels – one targeting the Biden administration and the Justice Department and the other on China.
California Rep. Kevin McCarthy agreed to the creation of both committees as part of his concessions to win the speakership.
- The first is a select subcommittee on “the weaponization of the federal government” that will investigate the actions of the executive branch. Republicans say the subcommittee will also focus on the Department of Justice’s search for former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in August.
- The second is a select committee aimed at increasing the United States’ competitiveness with China.
Jim Jordan will lead the committee on the weaponization of the federal government. He gave a great speech identifying that he will look into the federal government’s attacks on Americans’ First Amendment rights.
This committee created by the House is related to China.
The other committee on the “strategic competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party,” is aimed at increasing the United States’ competitiveness with China.
“The new select committee on China will focus on bringing jobs back to America, securing our intellectual property, protecting our farmland, and more,” McCarthy said.
The committee will be composed of 16 members who will investigate the economic, technological, and security progress of the Chinese Community Party.
Wisconsin Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher has been tapped to lead the committee as chairman. The former Marine and intelligence officials have had a history of bipartisanship, working with Democrats on legislation focused on American competition with China.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on the China committee:
One hundred forty-six Democrats joined Republicans in supporting the creation of the committee, which was approved on a 365-65 vote. The move solidified a chairmanship position for Wisconsin Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, who was tapped by Speaker Kevin McCarthy last month to lead the panel and has increasingly warned of a “New Cold War” with the Chinese government.
“I was very excited to see that it was overwhelmingly bipartisan,” Gallagher said after the vote. “I do think, to the extent possible, if Congress can speak with a unified voice on this issue and if, to the extent possible, politics can stop at the water’s edge, our foreign policy is stronger for it.”
The Democrats couldn’t last two minutes without bringing up race. It’s their only focus and talking point.
Earlier in the day, a number of Democrats raised concerns about whether the committee would foment anti-Asian hate while others questioned why the select committee was necessary when there are established committees that deal with China-related issues.
“This committee cannot be used to promote policies that result in the racial profiling of Asian Americans but should directly focus on specific concerns related to the government of the People’s Republic of China,” Judy Chou, a California Democrat and chair of the Asian Pacific American Caucus, said on the House floor.
Investigations into Chinese actions in and with the US are long overdue. This is a step in the right direction.
