Officials Laud Congressional Oversight, but Can’t Promise Delivery of Requested Documents
Republican staffers on the House Judiciary Committee’s Responsiveness and Accountability to Oversight Subcommittee were suddenly sent scurrying during the panel’s June 22 hearing when Democrats, without warning, offered a privileged motion to adjourn.
The staffers were rushing to get subcommittee chairman Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.) and Rep. Laurel Lee (R-Fla.), who had both stepped out briefly, to return to the hearing room quickly because at that moment Democrats Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) out-numbered Rep. Nathaniel Moran, the Texas Republican temporarily chairing the hearing in Cline’s absence.
Cline’s reentry to the hearing meant there would be a tie vote, so Ivey withdrew the motion and the hearing continued. Ivey later told The Epoch Times he did so “in a spirit of cooperation.” Even so, the motion produced a close call that almost shut down the GOP majority’s latest effort to shine a spotlight on how President Joe Biden’s appointees are throwing up endless bureaucratic obstacles to frustrate and avoid congressional and public accountability….