It probably wasn’t the best idea for Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), the presumptive successor to outgoing Speaker of the House John Boehner, to suggest that Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers were sinking due to the existence of the House Select Committee on Benghazi. The Clinton Team already has a campaign ad about it, and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), who is challenging McCarthy for the speakership, called the remarks “absolutely terrible.”
In a second salvo, House Democrats are aiming to dissolve the Select Committee on Benghazi tonight, with Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) proposing the Rules Committee eliminate it tonight, though it’s bound to be blocked given the Republican majority. The Washington Post reports that while this move is unlikely to succeed, it shows that Democrats intend to soften up the panel ahead of Hillary’s Oct. 22 testimony before the committee:
Democrats will double down Tuesday night on their push to end the House Select Committee on Benghazi when Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) offers an amendment to kill the panel during a meeting of the Rules Committee.Slaughter’s move will be blocked by Republicans, who are a majority on the panel. But the amendment offers a hint at Democrats’ strategy to weaken the panel before it hears testimony from Hillary Clinton on Oct. 22.
Slaughter, the top Democrat on Rules, will offer her amendment to a Republican bill creating a new Select Committee on Planned Parenthood in response to a series of controversial, undercover videos about the group. The amendment will strike the Planned Parenthood language and order the dissolution of the Benghazi committee.
This just in: House Rules Cmte top Dem Rep. Louise Slaughter will put fwd amdt tonight to abolish select committee on Benghazi
— Tim Mak (@timkmak) October 6, 2015Sensing political opportunity, Dems line up to try to shut down Benghazi investigation.
Excited for all the "Democratic overreach" stories!
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) October 6, 2015Move to abolish Benghazi cmte latest escalation by Dems, seeking to capitalize on McCarthy remarks w/view for Hillary's Oct appearance
— Tim Mak (@timkmak) October 6, 2015UPDATE: Rep. Louise Slaughter offered an amendment to dissolve House Select Committee on Benghazi and it was voted down.
Surprise! The House Majority voted down my effort to dissolve the clearly politicized #Benghazi Committee http://t.co/BRKxZf6p5c
— Louise Slaughter (@louiseslaughter) October 7, 2015