WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House on Thursday urged Republicans wanting to investigate President Joe Biden a request for information for an investigation, including withdrawing from Afghanistan, after those lawmakers will enter the House of Representatives next month. Said inappropriate until handed over.
Biden’s special adviser, Richard Sauber, said the two Republicans who are expected to take the top oversight posts in the next Congress have no powers now, and that once they take control, they will already be white. He said he needed to redo the request for the materials he sent to House.Meeting.
Sauber said in separate letters to Rep. James Comer and Rep. Jim Jordan that their request was “not made as part of a congressional oversight process”, suggesting they would not yet be honored. .
Lawmakers have requested documents related to an investigation into the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The origin of the COVID-19 pandemic that started during the previous administration. Federal response to threats against local school board members over pandemic-era restrictions and curriculum controversy.
“If the Commission issues a similar or other request at the 118th Congress, we will consider and respond in good faith, in line with the needs and obligations of both departments,” Sauber wrote. “We expect the new Congress to undertake its oversight responsibilities with the same integrity.”
The Republican Party, which will rule the House next month, has also prioritized investigating the business dealings between the Democratic president and his son Hunter.
The Democrats who retain control of the White House and Senate are actively seeking to challenge these investigations.
A Kentucky Republican, Comer will chair the House Oversight and Reform Committee. A Republican from Ohio, Jordan will chair the Judiciary Committee. Both have threatened legal action if denied.
In a statement, Mr. Comer suggested that Mr. Biden had failed to deliver on his promise to remain transparent, vowing to “continue to demand the answers, transparency and accountability that the American people deserve.” A House Judiciary Republican sent out a tweet calling the latest development “ridiculous.”
Biden’s lawyers and Democratic supporters have sought to characterize the probe as extreme, dismissing it as politically motivated against voter priorities.
(Additional reporting by David Morgan; Editing by David Gregorio)