Senate GOP eyes Hunter Biden, Fauci probes after midterms

On Mar 20, 2022

Hunter Biden. Anthony FauciAnthony Fauci Arizona Democrat tests positive for COVID-19 Sunday shows preview: Biden calls Putin a war criminal as Ukraine conflict continues Officials wary of new COVID-19 surge as country relaxes MORE. Afghanistan. The border.

As Senate Republicans feel increasingly bullish about November, where they are fighting to regain control of Congress, they are floating using a new majority to dig into President BidenJoe Biden Belarusian president says Putin is ‘completely sane’ and ‘in better shape than ever’ Arizona Democrat tests positive for COVID-19 Thousands of Mariupol residents forcibly taken to Russia, city council says MORE and his administration starting in 2023.

The potential probes underscore both the headaches awaiting Democrats if the House or Senate flip heading into 2024, but also the shifting power dynamics within the Senate GOP conference where a stream of retirements of more pragmatic-minded senators is elevating newer, more combative Republicans.

“I’m sure there will be plenty of ingenious individuals thinking about what to do on those committees,” said Sen. Mike BraunMichael Braun Overnight Health Care — White House steps up COVID money warnings Senate panel advances pandemic preparedness bill on bipartisan vote Bipartisan group of senators press Mayorkas on US readiness for Russian cyberthreat MORE (R-Ind.).

Braun, while noting he didn’t have a pet investigation, pointed to GOP Sens. Rand PaulRandal (Rand) Howard Paul Senate passes resolution supporting Putin war crime probe Senate votes to nix mask mandate for public transportation Overnight Health Care — White House steps up COVID money warnings MORE (R-Ky.) and Ron JohnsonRonald (Ron) Harold Johnson Democratic group runs ad hitting Ron Johnson over Trump 2017 tax bill Juan Williams: Biden must rebut GOP attacks on war Lawmakers fear Ukraine could spiral into US-Russian war MORE (R-Wis.) as two examples of GOP senators who could have “some real interest in looking into stuff that has not been attended to.”

Johnson, if he wins his reelection bid in November, is poised to chair the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s permanent subcommittee on investigations. Johnson is prevented because of term limits from chairing the full committee again, but the subcommittee gavel comes with a crucial element: subpoena authority.

Asked if there were overlooked issues that he would want to probe, Johnson appeared eager to dig in.

“Like everything?” he told The Hill. “It’s like a mosquito in a nudist colony, it’s a target rich environment.”

Johnson pointed to the administration’s handling of the coronavirus as one area ripe for investigation. Johnson himself has caught flack, and fed Democratic campaign attacks, as one of the most vocal skeptics within the Senate GOP conference of public health measures amid the pandemic, which has killed more than 970,000 people according to Johns Hopkins University data.

“There’s so much more in terms of what happened with our federal health agencies that we need to explore,” Johnson said

Johnson views himself as having broad jurisdictional boundaries and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s boundary lines are more amorphous than other panels because it combines homeland security with a much broader category of government oversight.

Johnson isn’t alone in wanting to dig into the coronavirus response.

Paul, a libertarian-leaning GOP senator who at times is a gnat for Senate GOP leadership, is in line to become the chairman of the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee if Republicans win the majority.

Paul atop the committee would be a significant shift. Sen. Richard BurrRichard Mauze Burr A movement is underway to ban lawmakers from trading stocks in office Senate panel advances pandemic preparedness bill on bipartisan vote Five COVID-19 challenges on the two-year anniversary of the pandemic MORE (N.C.), currently the top Republican on the panel, is retiring after this year and has broken with Paul on a number of key issues. Former Sen. Lamar AlexanderLamar Alexander McConnell gets GOP wake-up call The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Alibaba – Democrats return to disappointment on immigration Authorities link ex-Tennessee governor to killing of Jimmy Hoffa associate MORE (R-Tenn.), who preceded Burr as the top Republican on the committee but retired after 2020, was a close ally of Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnell GOP rises to meet Ukraine challenge to define itself Sunday shows preview: Biden calls Putin a war criminal as Ukraine conflict continues This week’s must-watch moments on Capitol Hill MORE (R-Ky.) and known for his ability to cut bipartisan deals.

Paul has had high-profile tangles with Fauci during committee hearings and promised to investigate and subpoena Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, if he finds himself with a gavel next year.

“If we win in November, if I’m chairman of a committee, if I have subpoena power, we’ll go after every one of [Fauci’s] records,” Paul said earlier this year.

Under HELP Committee rules, the committee or a subcommittee can issue subpoenas, take sworn testimony or meet with subpoenaed witnesses “only if such investigative activity has been authorized by majority vote of the committee.”

The size of a GOP majority would determine the size of the GOP majority on the panel. But depending on who Paul wants to subpoena or investigate, getting a majority could prove tricky because the HELP committee includes more moderate GOP senators such as Susan CollinsSusan Margaret Collins Bipartisan group of senators visits Poland, Germany to meet with NATO partners over Ukraine Former Bernie Sanders press secretary: US should ‘more holistically’ fight climate change Senate panel advances Biden Fed nominees to confirmation votes MORE (Maine), Lisa MurkowskiLisa Ann Murkowski Former Bernie Sanders press secretary: US should ‘more holistically’ fight climate change Rep. Don Young, longest-serving member of Congress, dies at 88 Photos of the Week: Ukraine, Holi and Carole King MORE (Alaska) and Mitt RomneyWillard (Mitt) Mitt Romney Senate votes to nix mask mandate for public transportation The Memo: Zelensky virtual address raises pressure on Biden Kinzinger calls out Gabbard for Russian misinformation MORE (Utah).

Romney, Murkowski, Collins, Burr and Sens. Bill CassidyBill Cassidy Cassidy says transfer of Polish jets to Ukraine ‘within the rules of the game’ On The Money — Fed starts hiking rates as prices climb Hillicon Valley — Democrats tackle mega mergers MORE (R-La.) and Jerry MoranGerald (Jerry) Moran Bipartisan group of senators visits Poland, Germany to meet with NATO partners over Ukraine GOP senators push back hard on Trump’s praise of Putin Numbers don’t lie: America’s most resilient jobs are venture-backed MORE (R-Kansas) joined with Democrats on the committee to oppose Paul’s attempt last week to attach his proposal eliminating Fauci’s job and dividing it into three positions into a pandemic relief bill.

It’s not just the coronavirus that Republicans want to use their majority to dig into.

Sen. Rick ScottRick Scott Capito to make Senate GOP leadership bid Ukraine raises stakes for Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda Senate averts shutdown, passes .6B in Ukraine aid MORE (R-Fla.), who currently leads the Senate GOP campaign arm, pointed to a long-running GOP focal point: the border. Oversight of the border would likely fall under the jurisdiction of the Senate’s homeland security committee, though immigration-issues also overlap with the Judiciary Committee.

And Sen. Josh HawleyJoshua (Josh) David Hawley White House pushes back on ‘disingenuous attacks’ against Jackson Why Latinos should support Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmation Hawley says sentences in 10 child porn cases raise red flags on Supreme Court pick MORE (R-Mo.)—who, like Scott, is viewed as having White House ambitions— pointed back to the administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, with the quick fall of Kabul appearing to catch the U.S. government off guard.

Hawley pointed to a report from the U.S. military obtained by The Washington Post, which underscored tension between U.S. troops and administration officials.

“We need oversight hearings on this—on what they have found and on the withdrawal from Afghanistan,” Hawley said in an interview. “I would favor a select committee that is bipartisan, but I think Congress needs to do some oversight.”

It’s not just committee investigations that could cause headaches for the administration in a GOP-controlled Congress.

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