The 118th Congress will convene in January of 2023 and with it a Republican majority in the House and possibly the Senate (undeclared races in Arizona and Nevada, and a runoff in Georgia scheduled for December 6, 2022 will determine the balance of power). On the campaign trail is House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) whose grip on the Speaker’s gavel doesn’t appear to be as tight as he would like. Dozens of Republican candidates vowed that if Republicans took the majority in Congress, their agenda would include a laundry list of actions within their power and authority. So what issues will a new House and Senate Republican majority push in Congress, and what actions can or will they take if they are in charge next year?
According to McCarthy, priority number one is repealing the billions of dollars allocated for the hiring of 87,000 new Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents that was included in the so-called Inflation Reduction Act that passed the Senate 51-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie breaking vote. “On that very first day that we’re sworn in, you’ll see that it all changes. Because on our very first bill, we’re going to repeal 87,000 IRS agents. Our job is to work for you, not go after you,” McCarthy said.
His remarks were followed up in a blunt ‘Open Letter to America’s Job Seekers’ by Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) who is responsible for electing Republicans to the Senate. ”These new positions at the IRS will not offer you the long-term job stability you may expect from a position with the federal government,” Scott wrote in his August 16th letter. “Put another way: this will be a short-term gig. Republicans will take over the House and Senate in January, and I can promise you that we will immediately do everything in our power to defund this insane and unwarranted expansion of government into the lives of the American people.”
In addition to reversing the impending doubling of the IRS workforce, House and Senate Republicans are set to take over key oversight committees, and they have been outspoken about what their agenda will be once they’re in charge. For example, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who is set to become Chairman of the powerful House Judiciary Committee and who serves as Chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, has called for an investigation of President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, his foreign business dealings and whether or not the President is involved in those deals. As has Rep. James Comer (R-KY), incoming Chairman of the House Oversight Committee. “There’s mounting evidence that Hunter Biden was peddling access to our adversaries all over the world,” Comer said on “Fox and Friends” in October. “The reason we are investigating Hunter Biden is because we believe he is a national security threat. But we are also concerned that Hunter’s shady business dealings have compromised Joe Biden,” said Comer.
Other actions by House and Senate Republicans are reported to include investigations into Dr. Anthony Fauci’s knowledge, role, and activities surrounding his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as COVID relief spending waste and fraud, investigations into corruption at the FBI, and the fake Trump Russian dossier in the 2020 campaign. Additional investigations include Education Department policies and parents rights, investigations into Biden’s Department of Homeland Security and their handling of the 2 million+ immigrant crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border, as well as the fatally botched Afghanistan withdrawal. Republicans are also looking at making permanent the temporary tax cut provisions adopted as part of President Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in order to help combat the Democrats’ record high inflation economy.
Needless to say, there is a lot that needs to be brought into the public square and discussed, and we know we can’t rely on the liberal media to do their job and objectively report the truth on some of the most important questions facing our nation in a generation. Republicans were making their case on the campaign trail and they asked voters to give them the power to provide a powerful check on a reckless and misguided Biden administration. No doubt, Congressional Republicans will have the wind at their backs headed into the new Congress. There is no shortage of ways for Republican to use their oversight responsibilities, subpoena power, and Congressional authority to roll back some of the terrible policies of the last two years and find out where all those trillions of dollars of COVID money actually went.
Bob Carlstrom is President of AMAC Action