Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have had enough. For too long they've had to endure "quasi" or "fake" hearings that dismiss their minority voices, the group alleged on Wednesday. In a letter to committee Chairwoman Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), they inform her that unless she starts to follow the rules laid out by House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern (D-MA), they'll start boycotting.
"If you will not stop the weekly fake hearings and move toward the framework laid out in H. Res. 965 and the accompanying McGovern guidelines, the Republican Members will be forced to consider abstaining from these violative proceedings," the letter, obtained by Fox News, reads.
The House should be doing the people's business in person.
— Oversight Committee Republicans (@GOPoversight) May 27, 2020
America is getting back to work, and so should we.
But if Dems can't bring themselves to do that, they should at least follow the rules that they put in place and stop trampling minority rights.https://t.co/sQ7YoaglSq
The authors explain that "technical and procedural problems" have prevented them from fully participating in hearings. Those snafus include lost audio, and delayed approval for minority staff, which have caused unnecessary interruptions during the proceedings.
They give Maloney specific, and by no means farfetched, instructions.
"Rather than continue these fake hearings, we call on you to bring the Committee back to Washington, D.C. to conduct official business. For more than two hundred years, the House of Representatives has required Members to participate in proceedings in person assuring on behalf of the American people that Members exercise their duties with full responsibility, transparency, and accountability. To fulfill its constitutional role, the House and its committees must engage in debates, votes, and other proceedings in person."
The Republican authors of the letter include Reps. Jim Jordan (OH), Jody Hice (GA), James Comer (KY), Michael Cloud (TX), Chip Roy (TX), Glenn Grothman (WI), Paul Gosar (AZ), Virginia Foxx (NC), Bob Gibbs (OH), Clay Higgins (LA), Ralph Norman (SC), Carol Miller (WV), Mark Green (TN), Kelly Armstrong (ND), Gregory Steube (FL), and Fred Keller (PA).
This isn't the first time Republican committee members have sensed their voices were being snuffed. During last year's articles of impeachment hearings, Rep. Doug Collins's (R-GA) calls for minority hearings went unanswered.
House Republicans have also filed a lawsuit against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her proxy voting scheme.