The House Progressive-Democrats insist that they, in the words of Rules Committee Chairman James McGovern (D, MA),
will not allow this president and his administration to turn a blind eye to the rule of law[.]
Current House rules regarding subpoenas issued to Executive Branch personnel that those personnel do not comply with must go to a full House floor vote in order for enforcement in Federal court to be sought. That’s not fast enough or powerful enough to suit the Progressive-Democrat leadership. It also exposes Progressive-Democrats from competitive districts to the risk of losing in the 2020 election.
Under their proposed new rule (scheduled for vote Tuesday), committee chairmen can seek court enforcement without even a committee vote, much less an ensuing floor vote. They would only need to get the agreement of a small group of House leadership: the Speaker, the Majority and Minority Leaders, and Majority and Minority Whips.
Guess which way those votes will go.
Changing the rules solely for the purpose of achieving a narrow partisan end is not the rule of law that McGovern so piously claims to want. It’s naked rule by law. It’s what tyrannies do.