House Republicans Pivot Scrutiny From Biden to Harris

Three months ahead of the election, congressional Republicans are moving to close a strategic gap.

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Representative James Comer, Republican of Kentucky and the chair of the Oversight Committee, recently announced an investigation into Vice President Kamala Harris related to immigration at the southern border.

Good evening. Tonight, my colleague Luke Broadwater tells us how the House Republicans who have spent lots of time investigating President Biden are switching gears. And we have a dispatch from Donald Trump’s news conference at Mar-a-Lago. — Jess Bidgood

By Luke Broadwater

Since taking power in 2023, House Republicans have thrown most of their investigative muscle into inquiries of President Biden and his family, seeking evidence of wrongdoing — and possibly denting his re-election prospects.

Twenty months and many hearings later, they have produced an as-yet-unreleased impeachment inquiry report largely related to the complex financial dealings of the son and the brother of a man who is no longer running for president.

The entire Republican Party, from former President Trump on down, is working to adjust its strategy to taking on Vice President Kamala Harris. And that extends to House Republicans, who are pivoting to a new investigative target with just three months to go until the election.

They are essentially starting from square one. Republicans spent almost no time over the last year and a half investigating Harris, who is now the Democratic Party’s nominee. For Democrats, it’s been a little-noticed sweetener of the party’s candidate switch — one that has revealed a strategic gap that Republicans are moving quickly to close.

Making up for lost time

Given that Congress is a body made up of politicians, almost no congressional inquiry is undertaken without considering its political ramifications. Democrats mostly investigate Republicans; Republicans mostly investigate Democrats.

Harris, however, has been left largely unscathed by the Republican-controlled House. It wasn’t until this week that Representative James Comer, Republican of Kentucky and the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, announced an investigation into Harris related to immigration at the southern border. Harris was asked by Biden to look into root causes of the migration surge at the border; Republicans have falsely labeled her a failed “border czar,” even though her assignment was not border enforcement.

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