(DailyVantage.com) – House Republicans grilled Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Director Christopher Wray in a hearing in the Judiciary Committee over government censorship via corporations and social media, targeting Catholics, and labeling parents in school board meetings as threats. Chairman Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, a conservative who helped found the House Freedom Caucus, intends to significantly reform parts of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
FISA gives the FBI the ability to conduct warrantless surveillance operations; furthermore, some Republicans want to cut funding to the Department of Justice (DOJ) in order to serve as retribution for what they believe is the DOJ’s targeting of conservatives.
Critic and ranking member Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York claimed that this move against the DOJ was to “protect Donald Trump” and “return him to the White House in the next election.” However, House Republicans are limited in their scrutiny of not only the Biden administration’s DOJ but other key officials and agencies as well.
Conservative lawmakers are making a new push to impeach Attorney General Merrick Garland and remove FBI Director Christopher Wray. They could even attempt to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas or President Biden. While the GOP is divided on whether to impeach these prominent officials, some Republicans are considering using a rule to cancel the salaries of Biden administration officials. The Holman Rule would allow limitations on the number of offices that are salaried and how much they get and would be impacted by the House’s appropriations process, meaning that it could reduce “the number and salary of the officers of the United States.”
With only a slim majority for Republicans in the House, being four above the threshold for the majority, every Republican will need to be on board with any measures that Speaker McCarthy seeks to advance against Biden administration officials. Republican Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado has already come out against cutting appropriations to the DOJ; however, targeting salaries may be a way for the caucus to have a unified front against members of the executive branch whom they disagree with. The way in which Republicans advance will have to show unity if they are to retain or expand their Congressional seats in this coming general election.
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