How the GOP Already Fumbled the Biden Investigations

By appointing a bunch of clowns to the Oversight Committee, McCarthy has created an easily dismissed circus

Kevin McCarthy gave Joe Biden a big gift on Tuesday. Now, of course, the Speaker-In-Name-Only didn’t give the President a peace offering to kick off an era of bipartisan cooperation. Instead, McCarthy did what he always does — he put a rake on the ground and immediately stepped on it.

On Tuesday, the House Republicans were assigned to their legislative committees. The chairs of those committees were decided weeks ago. Therefore, most of the decisions were relatively pro forma. Who really cares which nameless Republican is on which essentially powerless committee? Congressional watchers were, however, interested in two things. First, they wondered to which committees noted fraudster George Santos would get assigned. Small Business and Science; assignments only possible because irony is dead. The second announcement of interest was the Government Reform and Oversight Committee membership — the panel designated to lead the Republican investigations into the Biden Administration.

And boy, was it a doozy.

McCarthy appointed a who’s who of MAGA extremist chuckleheads to sit on this critical committee. In addition to Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, and Paul Gosar, the committee also includes Scott Perry, who was actively involved in planning the insurrection, and Anna Paulina Luna, a conspiracy theorist with QAnon sympathies. Nearly every member of the committee is an election denier who voted against the certification of the election only hours after the violent assault on the Capitol.

Putting these folks on this important committee was certainly part of the many backroom deals McCarthy made to secure the votes to become Speaker. In doing so, he made Joe Biden’s life easier and gave the Democrats an easy retort to the parade of investigations that they hope will trip up the Democrat while he runs for reelection.

Why the Committee Matters

It’s fair to wonder why such an innocuously named committee matters so much. Government Reform and Oversight seems about as exhilarating as a lunch date with Mitch McConnell. Ways and Means, International Relations, Intelligence, and Armed Service all sound much more exciting. And in the ordinary course of business, they are more coveted committee seats. But it’s worth remembering that this Congress has no interest in or ability to enact laws. Other than sinking the global economy through extremist incompetence, investigating Joe Biden for political purposes is their main reason for coming to work every day. But don’t take my word for it. Here’s what Government Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Jim Comer said about his new job:

I truly think being Chairman of this committee—other than Speaker of the House—is going to be the most important job in Congress.