Hill Leaders Slipped Scheme into Spending Bill to Block, Stymie Investigations into Congress

Politics
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., pauses as he enters a closed-door strategy sessi
J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Congressional leadership slipped a provision into the stopgap spending bill that would bar or stymie investigations into Congress.

Tucked within the stopgap spending bill is a provision that has enflamed controversy amongst many conservatives on and off Capitol Hill.

The provision, titled “Treatment of electronic services provided for House offices,” sounds vague but could could stop or limit investigations into Congress.

Part of the section states:

Upon a motion made promptly by a House office or provider for a House office, a court of competent jurisdiction shall quash or modify any legal process directed to the provider for a House office if compliance with the legal process would require the disclosure of House data of the House office.

INFORMATION REGARDING IMPLICATIONS OF USING PROVIDERS.—The Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, in consultation with the House Office of General Counsel, shall provide information regarding the potential constitutional implications and the potential impact on privileges that may be asserted to each House office that commissions or uses a provider of electronic communication service or remote computing service. [Emphasis added]

“A new provision in the latest CR lets Congress block subpoenas for House data, including emails, potentially preventing any investigation into the J6 Committee,” Benny Johnson, a conservative activist, wrote on X.

A Republican staffer told Breitbart News that this appears to be the function of the provision.

Senator-elect Jim Banks (R-IN) wrote, “Did Liz Cheney negotiate the CR??”

Donald Trump Jr. wrote, “So the house is going to vote to protect itself from glaring and obvious wrongdoing? The American people didn’t vote for this. They voted for the opposite. They voted for transparency. This cannot pass.”Elon Musk wrote, “What the heck!!??”

Musk added, “Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!”

Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.

Authored by Sean Moran via Breitbart December 18th 2024

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