Calls for a vote to cite Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress remains uncertain since Republicans are still unsure whether they have the required number of votes to pass it.
Two committees have passed resolutions to cite Garland in contempt. In addition, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) confidently stated that he expected the measure to pass “handily” the moment that members of Congress return from their short Memorial Day recess.
However, The Hill reported that its source, who was well-aware of discussions behind-the-scenes, said that there were two Republican members who mentioned that they will not be voting for the said measure.
The uncertainly whether a measure would pass lies on the small House GOP majority, which means that Republicans could only pass bills with just one or two defections from Democrats, assuming that the latter remains united in their votes.
There is already a strong push from top GOP leaders for the Garland vote to be carried this week since there are already members who are saying that their colleagues are still not yet voting for the measure.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) said that they will not be calling for a vote unless they know that they can pass it. He also noted that there is more than one GOP who have reservations on the measure.
Another Republican, Dan Bishop, described the stance of other GOP members as being “squishy” on the issue.
Johnson, on the other hand, referred to the non-passing of the vote during the previous week as a “calendar issue.” Although delays are not necessarily uncommon, votes on such matters are often scheduled while lawmakers still have their momentum from their committees.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, said that the oversight meeting on May 15 was complicated and ended in chaos due to mentions of “fake eyelashes” used by Rep. Jasmine Crockette (D-TX).
“I mean, the whole country was looking at Marjorie Taylor Greene talking about fake eyelashes, but nobody was focused at all on their outlandish claim that the Attorney General of the United States is in contempt of Congress,” said Raskin.
The GOP lawmakers wanted to cite Johnson in contempt after his refusal to turn over the audio recording of the interview of special counsel Robert Hur with President Joe Biden.
The President has claimed executive privilege over the said audio recordings. However, lawmakers have already their transcript of the interview.
