House Republicans' fight against the Department of Justice and FBI is expected to take center stage during the second half of 2023.
Conservative lawmakers are ready to confront the DOJ and the bureau after Hunter Biden's lenient plea deal with federal investigators and former President Donald Trump's indictment over his handling of classified documents, Politico reported.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has threatened to explore impeaching Attorney General Merrick Garland, and conservatives are weighing whether to force a vote aimed at removing FBI Director Christopher Wray from office.
The House Oversight, Judiciary, and Ways and Means Committees are focused on whistleblower claims that the DOJ and a U.S. attorney's office hampered the Hunter Biden investigation.
Wray will appear before the Judiciary Committee shortly after the House returns next week, and Garland will testify in September.
Some Republicans want to cut the law agencies' budgets in retaliation for targeting officials on the right.
Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., said fellow conservatives "believe the best way to send a message is to use the power of the purse."
Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., said he's talking with colleagues about trying to dramatically restructure the FBI outside of spending bills, Politico reported.
Surrounding the House GOP investigations is the fact that the House will be in Washington for just a few weeks before a break until Sept. 12, after which lawmakers will need to avoid a government shutdown.
There's also a warrantless surveillance program, set to expire at year’s end, that has sparked accusations of abuse by the FBI.
A bipartisan group of Intelligence Committee members is gearing up to suggest changes to Section 702, the surveillance authority used by the FBI. It's meant to target individuals overseas, but has also involved Americans' communications.
For example, lawmakers are looking at penalties for individuals who lie to the foreign intelligence surveillance court.
Within the GOP, there have been discussions about how to proceed regarding the DOJ and FBI.
Some lawmakers, during closed-door House GOP spending meetings in recent weeks, warned colleagues to think twice about how they use spending bills to target specific agencies.
Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., said he privately urged colleagues to "be careful" about how they talk about DOJ funding, adding: "I'm not in favor of cutting DOJ," Politico reported.
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