House GOP Leader McCarthy Blasts Pelosi's New Committee
On the same day that President Donald Trump slammed “endless partisan investigations” that distract from the enormity of the nation’s fight against the coronavirus, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s plan to create a special House committee to investigate the administration’s efforts to attack the virus.
McCarthy said the selection of Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina to lead the panel was inappropriate.
The Republican leader noted that during the discussion of the coronavirus relief bill last month, Clyburn told fellow Democrats that “this is a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.”
That makes Clyburn a bad choice, McCarthy said.
“I have a couple of concerns about this: One, who she’s naming, Clyburn. It’s concerning to me because Congressman Clyburn is the one who thought this crisis was an opportune time to restructure government,” he told reporters, according to The Hill.
“That’s not what you should be doing,” McCarthy said. “You should be taking care of the American public, keeping an economy strong just as it was before and moving forward.”
Trump was blunt during his comments on the plan, which came during Thursday’s coronavirus task force briefing.
“I want to remind everyone here in our nation’s capital, especially in Congress, that this is not the time for politics,” the president said.
“Endless partisan investigations — here we go again — have already done extraordinary damage to our country in recent years. You see what happens. It’s witch hunt after witch hunt after witch hunt.”
Trump said past investigations have been fruitless.
“And in the end the people doing the witch hunt have been losing, and they’ve been losing by a lot. And it’s not any time for witch hunts. It’s time to get this enemy defeated,” Trump said.
“Conducting these partisan investigations in the middle of a pandemic is a really big waste of vital resources, time, attention, and we want to fight for American lives, not waste time,” he said.
Many agreed that the committee was nothing more than politics.
BREAKING:
Nancy Pelosi announced a new House Select Committee to investigate Trump’s response to the China Virus
It will be chaired by top Biden surrogate Jim Clyburn
We are at war with an invisible, foreign enemy
And all Democrats care about is investigating Trump
Shameful.
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) April 2, 2020
Nancy Pelosi announces she is forming a House Corona Virus Select Committee to ensure aid money is properly spent… with subpoena power.
I am sure this will be used to for it’s intended purpose… and totally NOT turned into another platform for a Trump Witchhunt.
?— Carpe Donktum? (@CarpeDonktum) April 2, 2020
Speaker Pelosi announces new House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis, chaired by Rep. Clyburn. Question: How much of its activities will be legitimate oversight of $2T in spending, and how much will be extension of House Dems’ get-Trump campaign? https://t.co/GOMf1EZi9W pic.twitter.com/T8uQTHkgc9
— Byron York (@ByronYork) April 2, 2020
Like when the Kennedy Center fired the orchestra after getting the bailout intended to keep them employed? That “carefully and effectively”? A little late for oversight.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi announces the House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis https://t.co/xEtWNCnG9M
— Craig D. Mansfield, EI ????⚗️??☣️☢️???? (@craigbob99) April 2, 2020
McCarthy noted that the coronavirus relief bills already have oversight written into them and that the House Oversight and Reform Committee should be the panel to address any oversight issues for the House.
“In the bill that we just passed we had the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, now this is a group of IGs [inspector generals] headed by [acting Inspector General of the Department of Defense] Glenn Fine. We also created the special inspector general for pandemic recovery, and Treasury gave it a $25 million dollar budget. We created the Congressional Oversight Commission inside here where you get an appointment by all the leaders,” he said.
McCarthy said the House will still have to approve creating the committee and that he was not sure when Congress would return. Lawmakers are on recess through April 20.
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