House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer's seeming disinterest in holding hearings on anything related to Donald Trump has led Washington Post analyst Philip Bump to suggest Democrats need to make life miserable for the Republican from Kentucky.
Using Donald Trump's attempt to get a free $400 million jet out from the leaders of Qatar that has even Republicans balking, Bump suggested that, should Comer refuses to hold any hearings on what appears to be a bribe, he should be held to account with either the threat of censure or by making any other hearing he convenes chaotic.
As Bump notes, Comer spent an extraordinary amount of time pursuing former President Joe Biden and his son Hunter to no avail, and considerable embarrassment, and that the plane offer should be fertile ground for investigation.
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Making the case for censure on the House floor, Bump suggested even a unsuccessful attempt would get under Comer's skin, with the columnist writing, "There aren’t many tools available to the minority party. A privileged resolution calling for Comer’s censure would almost certainly fail, but that isn’t a reason not to do it," adding, "House Democrats can also simply make their colleagues’ political efforts more difficult."
Noting that Comer once claimed the Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) –– a frequent foil –– makes his blood pressure "go up 30 points” just by entering the same room, Bump suggested Democrats use his irritation with Raskin as a way to press him to act.
"Democrats starting every question at every Oversight hearing by expressing frustration at Comer’s failure to 'aggressively advocate for reducing fraud and abuse' — particularly compared with his efforts on Hunter Biden — might trigger blood pressure spikes that lead to actual (if incremental) action," he suggested.
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As for the potential futility of trying get Comer and Republicans to do the right thing, he offered, "treating congressional Republicans as explicit accomplices to Trump’s corruption rather than impotent toadies is better than doing nothing in a moment when doing nothing is increasingly not an option."
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