House Republicans Plan Investigations of the Biden Border Crisis
FAIR Take | January 2023
Republicans on the House Oversight and Reform Committee will be busy during the 118th Congress. With a narrow House majority, a Democrat in the White House, and Democrats having retained control of the Senate in the 2022 midterms, there is little chance any Republican bills passed through the House will become law. However, a majority in the House means a majority and a Republican chair for each of the twenty standing House committees, including Oversight. Led by Chairman James Comer (R-KY), Oversight Republicans are in position to carry out the most impactful work of this Congress as they flex their muscle with investigations, hearings, and subpoenas at President Biden, his family, and his Cabinet. One area that should be a focal point for investigations is the raging Biden Border Crisis, which has intentionally made Americans less safe and eroded the integrity of our legal immigration system.
On November 21, 2022, after the midterm election results became clear, House Oversight Republicans released a simple one-page document highlighting their plans for investigations of the administration’s undermining of immigration and border-security laws. Correctly charging Biden with “stimulating the human smuggling industry” and “empowering drug cartels,” the document asserts Republicans will be “relentless” in holding administration officials accountable for the crisis. It also highlights how Republicans, even while in the minority, have already sent “dozens of letters” to the administration on a variety of topics and received wholly inadequate responses (or, in many cases, no responses at all). This, the committee charges, is evidence that “Biden does not have a coherent plan to respond to this crisis,” – or, perhaps more accurately, no interest in responding to the crisis they deliberately set in motion.
Now, with a majority and concomitant subpoena power, Republicans will no longer be limited to firing off strongly-worded letters that go in the circular file. They can bring stonewalling officials before Congress, place them under oath such that they must verbally answer questions under penalty of perjury, and finally get explanations that the American people deserve. If they fail to appear, they can be charged with contempt of Congress, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.
In truth, there is no coherent and logical explanation for willfully opening the border – which was more secure than ever when President Biden assumed office – to more than 5.5 million illegal aliens and enough fentanyl to kill every American. Hopefully, House Oversight Republicans can effectively illustrate the damage during their hearings and persuade the officials overseeing the border crisis to reconsider their actions.