White House slams Republican appointments to US House Oversight Committee

By Darren Lyn

HOUSTON, US (AA) - The Biden administration slammed Republican members of the US House of Representatives on Wednesday for appointing controversial members of their party to the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

Included on the appointment list were Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona, who were both stripped of their committee assignments during the last session of Congress for spewing violent rhetoric toward other lawmakers.

Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania was also appointed to the committee. Perry was a key Republican involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

"These are members who have promoted violent rhetoric and dangerous conspiracy theories, including suggesting violence against political opponents, trafficking in anti-Semitic lies, and defending and downplaying a violent insurrection against our democracy," said White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre at a news conference.

White House spokesman Ian Sams said in a statement that Republicans were “handing the keys of oversight to the most extreme MAGA members of the Republican caucus,” referring to Make America Great Again, a slogan that Donald Trump used in his campaign for the 2016 presidential race.

Sams noted that Greene was censured for her social media posts referencing violence against Democrats, Gosar repeatedly downplayed events of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and Perry defied a subpoena in a House investigation into the Capitol riots.

“House Republican leaders should explain why they are allowing these individuals to serve on this committee and reveal transparently once and for all what secret deals they made to the extreme MAGA members in order to elect a Speaker,” Sams added.

Republicans are expected to aggressively use their oversight powers to probe President Joe Biden’s conduct, with some members, including Greene, suggesting that the president could be impeached.

"The president intends to work with both parties in good faith, if they choose to, and make more progress on behalf of the American people," said Jean-Pierre.