House Republicans passed a rule Tuesday to curb Democrats’ ability to launch investigations into the Trump administration through the end of September.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., advanced the measure in the House Rules Committee on Monday that prevents Democrats, the minority party, from bringing resolutions of inquiry to the House floor until Oct. 1. The rule passed 216-208, according to multiple reports.
The procedural vote blocks Democrats from forcing votes on any number of incidents or actions over President Donald Trump’s first 100 days.
“We’re using the rules of the Houses to prevent political hijinks and political stunts,” Johnson said at a GOP leadership press conference Tuesday, the Washington Examiner reported. “So we’re preventing this nonsensical waste of time.”
He added, Democrats “showed us over the last four years, last eight years — they used lawfare, they used conspiracy theories, all these political weapons to just go after the president and make his life miserable,” The Hill reported.
Democrats had already filed a number of inquiries, which allow lawmakers to demand information from the president or heads of departments, according to The Hill. Democrats had filed them on the Signal snafu, the work of Elon Musk at the Department of Government Efficiency and charges of conflicts of interest regarding Trump’s senior adviser, according to the reports.
Given their parliamentary status, the inquiries can be forced to the House floor for a vote after a certain number of days without the speaker’s permission.
Just not for the next five months.
“We’re in the middle of a lot of things right now. We’re in the middle of reconciliation; we’re looking at all kinds of things right now. We’re very busy, and plain and simple,” said Rep. Michelle Fischbach, R-Minn., who sits on the Rules Committee. “Democrats are using this to clog things up and stop us from doing our business for the American people.”
Democrats blocked Republicans’ use of inquiries around the COVID-19 pandemic, according to The Hill.
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