The House voted Thursday to create a special investigative committee to oversee the federal coronavirus response. The measure passed with mostly Democratic support over the objections of Republicans who believe the panel will be weaponized against President Trump ahead of the 2020 election.
Ahead of the 212-182 vote, House lawmakers gathered in the Capitol for an emergency legislative session to debate and vote on the creation of the new oversight panel and to pass a $484 billion funding bill to help small businesses and fund healthcare. Lawmakers donned masks and maintained social distancing in the chamber.
The vote was arranged so that lawmakers reported to the chamber in nine different groups to prevent crowding.
Democrats denied Republican claims the panel will target Trump. Instead, the new select committee would be used to ensure the approximately $2.8 trillion in federal coronavirus aid is distributed without waste and fraud and is provided to those who need it most, they argued in a debate before the vote.
“The committee will root out waste, fraud, and abuse,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said from the House floor. “It will ensure taxpayer money goes to worker’s paychecks and benefits, and it will ensure the federal response is on the best possible science and guided by health experts, and the money invested is not being exploited by profiteers and price gougers.”
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Pelosi announced her intent to create the special panel earlier this month and said she will appoint Majority Whip James Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat, to head the committee.
Republicans said Clyburn’s appointment underscores the political nature of the panel: Clyburn is credited with reviving the political campaign of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden by endorsing him in the key South Carolina primary.
Rep. Jim Jordan, the top Republican from Ohio on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, led the debate against the new House panel, arguing there are already eight oversight committees that can oversee the distribution of the funds.
“The ninth is political,” Jordan said. “The ninth is looking out for Joe Biden. The ninth is to go after President Trump. This is just a continuation of the attack the Democrats have had on the president for the past four years.”
Democrats, who control the majority, will outnumber the GOP on the panel. Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, said he would wait to determine whether to appoint GOP members. McCarthy said he wants to see which Democratic lawmakers Pelosi taps to serve on the panel “and if she is serious about making this a committee that works.”
Pelosi on Thursday insisted the panel will be forward-looking and focused on the funding distribution.
“There is plenty of time later for an after-action review of what went on before,” Pelosi said. “We are talking about how this money is spent as we go forward.”
Rep. Jim McGovern, the Massachusetts Democrat who heads the House Rules Committee, said he expected Republicans to agree to additional oversight of what has become the largest federal spending effort in history.
“I’m stunned by the resistance to sunshine and transparency,” McGovern said. “That is what this is about.”
But the legislation greenlights the committee to do much more, authorizing panel members to examine “executive branch policies, deliberations, decisions, activities, and internal and external communications related to the coronavirus crisis.”
“Why do we need another oversight committee?” Rep. Debbie Lesko, an Arizona Republican, asked from the House floor. “Speaker Pelosi said, oh, it’s going to be bipartisan. I’m sorry. I don’t believe it.”
