House Democrats called more than 10 hearings during the last migrant surge to rake the Trump administration for its handling of the border. Yet now, …
House Democrats called more than 10 hearings during the last migrant surge to rake the Trump administration for its handling of the border. Yet now, with the Biden team slammed by a new surge, Democrats have put down their gavels and clammed up. Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the top Republican on the House Oversight and Reform Committee, demanded Thursday that things start to change, saying it’s time Capitol Hill start to investigate the Biden border, which he said “worsens by the day.” He said in 2019, during the Trump surge, the panel held repeated hearings and sent staff down to the border multiple times to inspect facilities. Yet this year, there’s been no peep of activity. “It appears that Committee Democrats only care about these issues when there is a Republican in the White House. However, securing our border and ending this humanitarian crisis should be a priority for this Committee regardless of party affiliation,” Mr. Comer said in a letter joined by all Republicans on the committee, demanding the panel get off the sidelines. The Republican lawmakers had first prodded Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, New York Democrat and the committee chairwoman, in a March 4 letter to start to probe the border. She’s been “silent,” Mr. Comer wrote, even though the yardsticks show the border situation is worsening. Ms. Maloney’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment. It’s not just the Oversight Committee that’s been staying off the playing field. The House Judiciary Committee in 2019 held two hearings in February on the border situation, which was nowhere near as serious at that point as it is now, then held several other hearings over the ensuing months, tucking them in between action on the Russia-collusion investigation. So far this year, there haven’t been any border hearings in the committee.
