Here’s where GOP investigations stand after 100 days in the House majority
Cami Mondeaux
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Shortly before Republicans took control of the House in January, GOP leaders vowed to open a number of investigations into President Joe Biden and his administration regarding their conduct over the last two years.
Now, 100 days into their reign, Republicans have opened a flurry of inquiries and have held several hearings featuring testimony and evidence as they push ahead with their agenda. Top Republicans such as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) long expressed their intent to investigate Biden’s White House on a variety of fronts, ranging from the southern border to Hunter Biden’s laptop.
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Here are five of the top investigations House Republicans opened after taking control of the lower chamber and where they currently stand:
The Afghanistan withdrawal
Republicans have long vowed to investigate the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, during which the country airlifted more than 12,000 people out as the Taliban quickly seized control of the government. The operation has been heavily scrutinized, particularly after a suicide attack outside the Kabul airport left 13 Americans and roughly 200 Afghans dead.
The House Oversight Committee opened an investigation into the matter in mid-February, requesting all information related to the withdrawal from the White House, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Defense, Homeland Security, and State departments. As part of that request, Republicans sought access to documents, communications, and other information related to the withdrawal, evacuation, and the vetting process of Afghans being relocated to the United States.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee then held its first hearing on the withdrawal on March 8, which featured testimony from witnesses who were evacuated from Kabul in September 2021. The committee later subpoenaed Secretary of State Antony Blinken for classified cables that were reportedly written by diplomats who were at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul shortly before the withdrawal took place.
The House Oversight Committee is set to hold a second hearing on April 19 that is scheduled to feature testimony from officials at the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, as well as the inspectors general for the Defense Department, State Department, and the USAID. That hearing was scheduled amid pushback from congressional Republicans on the White House’s release of a report largely blaming the Trump administration for its shortcomings.
The White House released its findings in a 12-page report on Thursday, detailing the Biden administration’s decision-making behind the chaotic withdrawal. The report placed much of the blame on the Trump administration, arguing the former president had severely limited Biden’s options.
Southern border crisis
Republicans have also set their focus on the influx of undocumented immigrants coming into the U.S. from the southern border, which has significantly increased under the Biden administration. Border officials encountered more than 2 million immigrants at the southern border during fiscal 2022, an increase from 1.7 million encounters the year before.
Shortly after taking the House majority, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee scheduled a hearing for Feb. 1, seeking to examine how surging immigrant numbers have exacerbated the country’s fentanyl crisis. The committee held a follow-up hearing on Feb. 23, titling the meeting “The Biden Border Crisis – Part II.” A part three has not yet been announced.
Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) also announced a hearing examining the border crisis, inviting several border officials to testify at the meeting. That hearing was held Feb. 7 and featured testimony from two border officials: Gloria Chavez, the chief patrol agent at the Rio Grande Valley sector, and John Modlin, the chief patrol agent at the Tucson sector.
Weeks later, Comer requested transcribed interviews with seven chief patrol agents, including those who monitor the San Diego, El Centro, Yuma, El Paso, Big Bend, Del Rio, and Laredo sectors.
Republicans have indicated they will request DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for his testimony as part of their investigation, although no committee has followed through with that pledge as of Thursday.
COVID-19 pandemic
Ever since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, lawmakers have remained split on how the widespread disease originated, with some theorizing it spread from a Wuhan lab, while others claimed it was a result of natural causes.
As a result, several House committees under new Republican leadership decided to get involved with investigating the pandemic’s origins as well as the U.S. response under the direction of Dr. Anthony Fauci.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee was the first to hold a hearing on the origins of the pandemic, hosting its first meeting in early February. That hearing focused mainly on public health and research as it pertains to the committee’s jurisdiction.
Additionally, the House Oversight Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic has also initiated an in-depth inquiry into the pandemic, sending letters to several officials, such as Fauci, for records and communications related to the pandemic.
The Oversight Committee held a hearing on March 8 featuring testimony from Robert Redfield, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Jamie Metzl, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, Nicholas Wade, former science and health editor at the New York Times, and Paul Auwaerter, clinical director of the Division of Infectious Diseases.
Shortly after that hearing, Congress passed the COVID Origins Act, which would force the Biden administration to declassify all information it has gathered on the origins of COVID-19. Biden later signed that bill on March 20.
That bill was reintroduced in early March after a report from the Department of Energy concluded that the coronavirus likely originated from a lab leak in Wuhan, China, prompting an uproar from several conservatives who voiced similar theories early on in the pandemic.
Hunter Biden laptop
One of Republicans’ top priorities in the new Congress is to investigate Hunter Biden’s business dealings, which have long been of interest to the Republican Party. The issue first took prominence during the 2020 election as the GOP sought to determine whether then-candidate Joe Biden benefited financially from his son’s transactions, pointing to national security concerns.
The House Oversight Committee held its first hearing on the matter on Feb. 8, featuring testimony from Twitter officials. Republicans questioned the officials on the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story on their platform, accusing the company of censoring conservatives.
The committee later announced it would expand its investigation into the president’s son, calling on Hunter Biden, James Biden, and Eric Schwerin to provide any documents, communications, and records related to President Biden’s involvement with their business schemes. Those letters were sent on Feb. 9.
House Oversight Republicans came to an agreement with the Treasury Department on March 14 to view bank transactions by the Biden family that were flagged as suspicious by U.S. banks. A few days later, Hunter Biden filed a lawsuit against the laptop repairman, accusing him of invasion of privacy and publishing private information.
Meanwhile, the House Judiciary Committee has also delved into the Hunter Biden case, focusing much of its attention on intelligence officials who denounced the laptop story as disinformation during the 2020 election. The committee sent letters to a number of intelligence officials on March 1 to appear for transcribed interviews detailing their conduct.
Jordan also sent a letter to social media companies requesting communications between the platforms and members of the Biden administration during the 2020 cycle. Jordan accused the parties of suppressing the story ahead of a crucial presidential election.
The president’s son has never publicly denied that the laptop belonged to him but has insisted he is “100% certain” he will be cleared of wrongdoing.
Weaponization of federal government
As part of its work investigating the Biden administration, Republicans on the Judiciary Committee created a subcommittee to target what they call the “weaponization” of the federal government — specifically against conservatives. The subcommittee has opened a number of investigations into several federal government agencies, including the FBI, Justice Department, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The panel held its first hearing on Feb. 8, making a broad argument that the federal government has conspired with national security officials, social media companies, and the news media to target conservative voices.
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The committee held a second hearing on March 9 focusing on the “Twitter files,” a series of documents and internal communications of the social media company that Republicans have used as evidence of blacklisting and censorship of conservative users. Lawmakers followed up with their most recent hearing on March 30 further exploring the Biden administration’s role in social media censorship.
Most recently, Jordan issued a subpoena to FBI Director Christopher Wray after it was revealed that the FBI used an undercover employee to use local religious organizations as “avenues for tripwire and source development,” according to the committee. Lawmakers accused the FBI of violating First Amendment rights, demanding access to all documents related to the plot.