House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the names of seven Democratic lawmakers to serve on a newly created coronavirus investigative committee, but Republicans are rejecting the new panel as a “partisan pursuit.”
Pelosi on Wednesday named some of the most anti-Trump Democrats to serve on the committee, which Democrats created without the help of Republican votes during an emergency House session last week.
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The roster includes several lawmakers who led the impeachment effort against President Trump, including House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters of California and House Government Reform and Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney of New York.
Waters has been calling for Trump to be removed from office since 2017. Maloney promised to continue with investigations into Trump after the Senate acquitted him of two impeachment charges earlier this year.
The panel also includes Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat who blames Trump for the spread of the coronavirus in the United States and the ensuing economic shutdown.
“I cannot accept the counterfeit outrage of people upset about the fact that we’re creating a committee to conduct oversight over the trillions of dollars of taxpayer’s money that is going out the door to try to clean up after the mess created by the government,” Raskin said.
Pelosi appointed Rep. James Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat who was instrumental in reviving Joe Biden’s presidential campaign by endorsing him in the state’s critical primary.
“Instead of looking for innovative ways to help the American people, Speaker Pelosi has chosen to pursue ‘impeachment 2.0’ with a partisan and unnecessary oversight committee,” a spokesman for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told the Washington Examiner. “The roster the speaker has chosen makes clear that this is not an honest effort at transparency and accountability but rather another attempt to politically damage the Trump administration. During a time of unprecedented crisis, Congress must come together to speak with one voice — the speaker’s so-called coronavirus oversight task force is simply another partisan pursuit.”
Democrats say the panel will help ensure the $2.8 trillion in federal spending passed since last month will be distributed properly to businesses, individuals, and healthcare facilities, among other intended recipients.
“Of course, we are going to act in a nonpartisan way on this,” Pelosi, a California Democrat, told reporters Wednesday.
Republicans said they aren’t buying it. They pointed out there are already eight oversight entities that can ensure the money is not misspent, including a special inspector general and a congressionally appointed panel backed with $25 million in federal funding.
GOP lawmakers said the panel will be weaponized against Trump in the critical months ahead of the November election.
McCarthy, a California Republican, hasn’t appointed GOP lawmakers to the committee. McCarthy has not indicated when or if he’ll appoint members.
Pelosi dismissed the GOP concerns and said the committee is “to make sure we have a bright light shining on the implementation of $2 trillion.”
The additional Democrats on the panel include Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez of New York, Rep. Bill Foster of Illinois, and Small Business Economic Growth Subcommittee Chair Andy Kim of New Jersey.
