The vast majority of House Republicans are expected to oppose an effort to hold Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena, brushing aside concerns about weakening the institution’s future oversight authority and rejecting accusations that they’re trying to block Democrats from getting to the bottom of the January 6 insurrection.
During a closed-door conference meeting Wednesday morning, GOP leaders recommended that Republicans vote «no» on the criminal contempt referral for Bannon, according to a source inside the room. While that falls short of a formal whip operation, it shows leadership is leaning in hard against the resolution. And just a handful of Republicans are considering supporting the criminal contempt referral when it comes up for a floor vote on Thursday. GOP House leadership officially informed their members of their recommendation to vote against holding Bannon in contempt of Congress in an email Wednesday evening. Republican Rep. Tom Rice of South Carolina, who voted to impeach Trump for inciting the deadly riot, is undecided but told CNN «there’s a lot of weakness» in Bannon’s legal argument for not cooperating. Freshman Rep. Peter Meijer of Michigan, who also voted for impeachment, told CNN that it’s «essential that Congress has a subpoena ability» but that he needs to review the resolution before making a determination. And Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, who represents a Biden-won district and backed an unsuccessful effort to form a bipartisan commission to investigate the US Capitol insurrection on January 6, said he’s torn because he’s «not a fan of Bannon» but he’s also «not a fan of the select committee.» Just two Republicans — Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois — supported the creation of the select committee investigating January 6. Both of them now serve on the panel and voted in favor of the resolution to hold Bannon in contempt during the committee markup. GOP leaders are arguing that all of the panel’s work is tainted, and that their request for documents and depositions is overly broad and lacks a legitimate legislative purpose. Under the proposed bipartisan commission, Republicans would have gotten veto power over any subpoenas. «You can do this if you’re legislating. This isn’t about legislating,» House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters.
