Republicans have won control of the House of Representatives in the 2022 midterms, several news media reported on Wednesday.
Despite predictions of a “red wave,” the GOP’s win is a narrow one; some experts are expecting that Republicans’ lead over Democrats will likely be in the single digits when all House races are finally counted.
However, House Republicans will still be able to open a number of investigations through their control of legislative committees in the chamber, and they will be able to leverage their subpoena power in order to obtain documents and depositions from key figures.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) won an election within his caucus to lead the party in the House, which means he’ll likely become the next House Speaker. Still, more than two dozen GOP lawmakers voted against him, indicating that he may face challenges in reining in far right forces within his own party while trying to manage the House starting in January.
Perhaps as an attempt to placate those forces (or to win the approval of former President Donald Trump), McCarthy has made it clear that he plans to support inquiries into President Joe Biden’s White House, as well as into members of Biden’s family.
Such investigations will likely be based on conspiracy theories and other blatantly false allegations made by right-wing extremists. Inquiries into the origins of COVID-19, the purported politicization of the Justice Department, and the management of investigations into Trump’s actions (including his improper handling of government documents and his actions surrounding the Capitol attack) are all fair game for the GOP to investigate. Republicans will also likely open an inquiry into the business dealings of Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.
Far right elements in the GOP may even seek to impeach Biden over the next two-year session, possibly out of a desire for revenge after Democrats impeached Trump twice while he was in office. And while McCarthy recently said that he doesn’t believe any of Biden’s actions warrant impeachment, the Speaker’s narrow majority in the House may compel him to entertain the possibility of impeaching Biden, whether or not such a move is justified.
Indeed, the White House has reportedly been prepping for months over the investigations they will likely face in the near future. The administration is also planning to hire additional staff and lawyers to ready themselves for the GOP’s onslaught of probes, subpoenas and other actions.
White House officials are adamant that these inquiries will backfire on Republicans, and that they will be viewed by Americans as an overreach of the GOP’s legislative powers. The administration also plans to counter claims from the GOP while pushing forward the president’s agenda, even though it faces new challenges to do so within a divided government.
“President Biden is not going to let these political attacks distract him from focusing on Americans’ priorities, and we hope congressional Republicans will join us in tackling them instead of wasting time and resources on political revenge,” Ian Sams, spokesperson for the White House counsel’s office, said in a statement to CNN.
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
After the election, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy