In a 221 to 211 House vote on Tuesday, the GOP-controlled House pushed through a resolution to launch a wide-ranging inquiry that aims to look into a number of subjects, from the Department of Justice’s criminal investigations into Donald Trump to whether the FBI has attempted to censor conservative voices.
The Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government will be chaired by Jordan, one of the biggest Trump allies in the House and the incoming chairman of the influential Judiciary Committee.
The subcommittee is expected to consist of 13 Republicans and five Democrats.
In a speech on the House floor rejecting the resolution to approve the subcommittee, Judiciary Ranking Member Jerry Nadler accused the GOP of creating the panel to investigate “whatever conspiracy theories may be headlining the right-wing echo chamber at the moment” and to “settle political scores” on behalf of Trump.
Speaking to Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Tuesday after the House voted to create the “weaponization” subcommittee, Jordan dismissed Nadler’s and other criticisms of the inquiry and urged them to join the GOP for a bipartisan investigation.
“They said this is political and we’re gonna fight it tooth and nail. Why?” Jordan said. “We’re protecting the First Amendment, we’re protecting the Americans, why would you fight it? I thought you guys embraced the Constitution like we all do, love the First Amendment and the rights we enjoy
“That’s what this is about. We’re gonna do everything we can to protect American citizens’ First Amendment liberty.”
Newly elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who also appeared on Hannity with Jordan and Kentucky Rep. James Comer, added that Democrats should “join with us, not fight us.”
“We won’t play like them, they want to put somebody on the committee, put somebody on the committee.
“We’re not pre-setting this thing to be political because that’s not what it should be. We’re going to follow the Constitution, Jim will follow wherever the information takes us,” McCarthy added.
When the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack was created, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected two of McCarthy’s five choices of GOP lawmakers to join the panel: Jordan and Rep. Jim Banks.
McCarthy then withdrew his other three nominations, leaving just Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger as the only two Republicans on the January 6 investigation.
In a speech on the House floor Tuesday, Jordan also insisted the creation of the Weaponization of the Federal Government subcommittee is not political or a “ploy.”
“This is about the First Amendment, something you guys used to care about. And I’d actually hoped we could get bipartisan agreement on protecting the First Amendment — the five rights we enjoy as Americans under the First Amendment,” Jordan said.
“We don’t want to go after anyone, we just want it to stop. And we want to respect the First Amendment to the Constitution that the greatest country in the world has. That’s what this committee is all about, and that’s what we’re gonna focus on, that’s what we are going to do.”
The Democratic National Committee has been contacted for comment.
