Congress and the power to subpoena

The Special Committee to investigate Benghazi was created in the exact same manner as the Jan. 6 Committee. The Benghazi committee subpoenaed civilians and members of the Obama Administration. Even Hillary Clinton showed up to testify.

 

I’m not comparing the merits of those two committees. In fact, I didn’t think there was much merit to the Jan. 6 Committee, which is why I voted against it. There were already four federal agencies and 10 congressional committees investigating, and we didn’t need more.

 

I’ve made some promises to the Lowcountry. I promised to protect Parris Island. I promised not to raise your taxes, not to add to the deficit, and I promised to follow the U.S. Constitution. I said I would not blindly follow partisan politics, but rather vote for what is right — not for what is politically expedient — and to, most importantly, represent our district. 

 

Congress has powers as a branch of government, and they are important. They’re especially important as a check on the other branches of government. Congress must have the ability to provide its broad oversight, conduct investigations, and make use of its subpoena power which has been used throughout our nation’s history. All of these responsibilities are outlined in our Constitution, the Rules of the House, and have been upheld by the Supreme Court. 

 

Congress has executed this function for hundreds of years, from investigating the sinking of the Titanic to exposing organized crime in America.

 

When Republicans were in control, we used this power to investigate Benghazi, the Whitewater land scandal, Vince Foster’s death, Major League Baseball, Eric Holder and Lois Lerner, to name a few. We issued subpoenas for materials and testimony, and we didn’t let anyone just walk away from our process. 

 

Although I disagreed with its formation, the Jan. 6 Committee received a vote in the House of Representatives, and whether we like it or not, is officially a Committee of the United States Congress. 

 

That’s what my recent vote was about — it was a vote regarding contempt charges before a congressional committee. It was a vote to protect Congress’ authority to investigate and issue subpoenas. It was a vote to follow the law and preserve congressional power of inquiry.

 

So the question isn’t about whether the committee should or should not exist. It’s not about the merits of the subpoena itself.  

 

The question is simply: Does Congress have the ability to issue and enforce its subpoena power? I believe it does, and our courts do, too. 

 

In McGrain v. Daugherty (1927), Justice Van Devanter wrote for a unanimous court, “the power of inquiry — with process to enforce it — is an essential and appropriate auxiliary to the legislative function ... A legislative body cannot legislate wisely or effectively in the absence of information ... and where the legislative body does not itself possess the requisite information — which not infrequently is true — recourse must be had to others who possess it... ”

 

Today, it seems people want to lash out at votes especially if we aren’t aligned 100%. And if we aren’t 100%, then we can’t possibly be aligned at all. That’s a mistake. 

 

Many of us are vocal about our disdain for “cancel culture,” but then, want to cancel those we disagree with, even within our own party. This makes no sense but is indicative of the political atmosphere we live in today. We should hear each other out, then move on to the next issue. 

 

I wish Speaker Pelosi’s House were focused on the issues that matter. Unfortunately, that is not the reality of this Congress. But next Congress, when Republicans are in the majority, we will want and we will need to use the same tools to investigate the many crises facing our nation not being addressed by the current administration: the southern border, Afghanistan, and Antifa, for starters. The subpoena power I just upheld in this contempt vote will be crucial for learning more about these pressing issues. 

 

With the Constitution as my guide, the intended outcome of any vote I take in Congress will not be to protect anybody based on their political party — plain and simple.

 

So, imagine the positive impact on our country if Congress invested the same amount of time, energy and effort into investigating all acts of violence and domestic terrorism, fraud and corruption, and abuses of power regardless of the politics.

 

As a ranking member of the Oversight Committee, you can be certain I will be there implementing our right to do so because my vote just protected our right to do so.