If (more likely when) the government shuts down because the MAGA Republicans would rather destroy services than serve their constituents, the MAGA House members will not miss a paycheck even as they blithely force millions of others to go without.
It tells you everything you need to know about Republican priorities that Reps. Jim Jordan and James Comer have designated their staffs as "essential workers" to ensure they can keep looking for excuses to impeach President Joe Biden during their shutdown. As if that is more urgent than keeping services open and paychecks flowing to those they are depriving.
In recent days, House Republicans – like all federal agencies – have been working behind the scenes to figure out which of their operations and staffers will be deemed “essential” if the government shuts down at midnight on Saturday. And it has been determined that the GOP-led committees heading the Biden impeachment inquiry will fall under that umbrella, according to multiple Republican lawmakers and aides, though formal shutdown plans are still being finalized.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer said a potential shutdown, now just days away, will have no impact on his staff and plans to keep issuing subpoenas, telling CNN on Tuesday, “We’re going to keep going.”
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan said his staff has been deemed essential and will continue with the steady stream of interviews his panel has lined up, including with top officials at the Department of Justice.
“We’ve got a number of them scheduled,” Jordan told CNN. “Every week there’s a whole roster of folks.”
So, while the rest of us can’t get passports or visit national parks, the Biden impeachment fishing expedition will go on without a hitch. Despite the fact that months of Republican investigations have “failed to provide anything resembling concrete evidence” of presidential wrongdoing, as Fox host Neil Cavuto said after Thursday’s six-hour “impeachment inquiry.”
