History shows us that congressional midterm elections generally go well for the party that’s not in the White House. Moreover, a president’s approval rating can be a factor.
So, who can blame House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield for thinking about what he would do if the Republicans regain the House in 2022?
In an interview with Breitbart’s Washington, D.C., bureau chief Matt Boyle, McCarthy said he would prevent high-profile Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) from serving on committees.
This isn’t the first time McCarthy had made this threat, according to The Hill. Previously, he talked about retaliating against Democrats for their votes to remove Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) from committees after they invoked political violence in their rhetoric.
Dems Control House By Nine Seats
In Congress, the victors get to write the rules. McCarthy says that the Democrats, who control the House by a 221-212 margin, have set a precedent he intends to follow.
“The Democrats have created a new thing where they are picking and choosing who can be on committee,” McCarthy told Breitbart. “Never in the history (of Congress) have you had the majority telling the minority who can be on committee.”
McCarthy went on to say: “If Eric Swalwell cannot get a security clearance in the private sector, there is no reason why he should be given one to be on Intel or Homeland Security. So, he will not be serving there. … Ilhan Omar should not be serving on Foreign Affairs.”
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Schiff Responds
McCarthy also said that Schiff shouldn’t serve on the Intelligence Committee because of his calls to investigate claims in the so-called Steele dossier that alleged Donald Trump conspired with Russia to win the 2016 presidential election and Russia had compromising information on Trump.
Though federal investigators have found links between the Trump campaign and Russian interests, much of the dossier has since been discredited.
“You look at Adam Schiff — he should not be serving on Intel when he has openly, knowingly now used a fake dossier, lied to the American public in the process and doesn’t have any ill will [and] says he wants to continue to do it,” McCarthy said.
After Breitbart published the video interview with McCarthy on Monday, Schiff sought to raise campaign funds off of McCarthy’s threat, The Hill reported.
“This is yet another reason why a Republican majority must never happen. McCarthy knows that I will never shy away from my committee oversight responsibilities. That I will always stand up to him, and expose his duplicity to the American people,” Schiff wrote in an email to supporters.
Watch the McCarthy Interview
You can view McCarthy’s interview at this link.
For fivethirtyeight.com’s early look at the 2022 House and Senate midterm, click here.
Biden’s job approval in Gallup’s December poll was 43%, the fourth straight month it has been in the low 40s.
McCarthy will run for re-election in 2022 in District 20 following redistricting. The district includes Clovis and parts of Fresno, Tulare, and Kern counties.
