CNN
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Republicans on the House Ethics Committee announced their findings on Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz, despite growing calls from Senate Republicans to release them ahead of his confirmation hearings. , followed Republican leaders in voting not to release the findings.
The Republican decision to block the findings, against the wishes of the committee’s Democratic members, raises big questions about what will happen to the top secret information the Ethics Committee has already collected about Gaetz.
The committee voted to meet again in December, but Republicans on the committee want a final report, according to two people familiar with the discussions. But until then, pressure is slowly building across Capitol Hill to release the report’s contents as Mr. Gates makes his case directly to Republican senators who will decide his future as attorney general. And with just weeks left until the end of this Congress, Democrats must now plan their next steps.
Some Democrats are trying to put pressure on themselves. Rep. Sean Casten, a Democrat close to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, announced Wednesday that he would introduce a privilege resolution to try to release the report. Another Democrat, Rep. Steve Cohen, made a similar effort to pry the report through a floor vote before he could.
Any member of the House of Representatives could introduce a privilege resolution to compel the publication of the ethics report as it pertains to the “dignity and integrity” of the House, giving them special powers to consider the bill. . But it must pass through strict procedural rules to reach the floor.
It is unclear whether Mr. Cohen, who formally declared his plan on the floor Wednesday, has drafted a bill that would pass these procedural standards. But if that happens, Speaker Mike Johnson would be forced to bring it to the floor within two legislative days. But Democrats privately believe that Republicans will block the bill from actually coming to a vote.
In the meantime, the Ethics Committee will continue working on its report, which its chair, Rep. Michael Guest, said is not yet complete. The status of the report was a key point of discussion during the two-hour panel meeting. Although the investigation is complete, lawmakers from both parties are debating whether it is technically complete.
The committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Susan Wilde, stressed that her party disagrees with the Republicans’ decision not to release the report.
Guest said after the meeting that there was “no agreement” on whether to disclose the findings.
Immediately after Guest’s comments, Wilde told reporters: “The American people believe that Guest’s portrayal of what happened today shows that there was unanimity and agreement on this issue on this committee.” I don’t want anyone else to think that.” Do not publish the report. ”
“I then realized that the chair had betrayed the process by making our deliberations public as soon as they left the committee. That’s false,” Wilde said.
The Pennsylvania Democratic Party added that the committee will reconvene Dec. 5 to “further consider this matter.”
