After House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries announced his Democratic appointments to a select committee on the threat posed by China, the top Republican chairing the panel, GOP Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, gave Jeffries some surprising feedback: his stamp of approval.
Gallagher felt like the roster was made up of serious members well-versed on the issue – a sentiment shared by Democrats, who were also pleased that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy did not appoint fire-breathers looking to score political points to the panel.
“(Jeffries) saw the members that Speaker McCarthy appointed, and saw that we’re not going to turn this into a partisan, bomb-throwing committee,” Gallagher told CNN. “Now, there may be meaningful disagreement on the issues. There are plenty of areas where Democrats and Republicans disagree on China, but overall, I think everyone’s trying to row in the same direction.”
The highest ranking Democrat on the panel, Illinois Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, told CNN, “I think we don’t have a choice” when it comes to striking a bipartisan tone. “Because the threats confronting us are so serious that only our adversaries would take pleasure in us being divided. And so I think we have to rise to the occasion, and with singularity of purpose, remember that we’re all called upon to defend our country, keep it safe, and counter any threats from any adversarial entities and move forward together.”
But a congressional Kumbaya may be easier said than done, and already, the recent Chinese spy balloon saga is testing the committee’s ability to work together. Some Democrats were turned off that Republicans immediately leapt to criticizing President Joe Biden as “weak” on China before Congress has even been briefed on the situation, with some GOP lawmakers even calling on him to resign over the incident.
“I think it’s unfortunate…
Read the full article here
