If the GOP gets the better of Democrats in the November midterms, the party will kick off at least 23 high-profile probes into the Biden administration’s “policies and spending”, the news website Axios has reported.
According to the media outlet, the topic was discussed between top Republican congressional aides and conservative think-tank leaders in an unspecified town on Maryland's Eastern Shore earlier this month.
The get-together was reportedly hosted by the Heritage Foundation, the Conservative Partnership Institute and the American Accountability Foundation (AAF), a nonprofit run by Trump administration alumni that, Axios said, “dogged Biden nominees with independent investigative work”.
Mike Howell, who leads Heritage's Oversight Project, told the news outlet that the goal of the retreat was to ensure congressional staff members are equipped to open possible probes as soon as the new Congress “is gavelled in”.
“What's going to happen next Congress is, you've got to do four years of oversight in two years. That's going to be an immense lift, and it means that they cannot wait to get these committees situated,” Howell argued.
He referred to “thousands of people”, who, like him, served in the Trump administration and who “experienced what was probably the most intense congressional oversight to date”. According to Howell, they “are now chomping at the bit to deploy these skills that they've learned back at the Biden administration”.
For his part, AAF chief Tom Jones, who briefed the Maryland event’s attendees on tactics for investigating presidential nominees and appointees, stressed that “the American people are deeply frustrated by the failed policies and lack of leadership of the Biden Administration”.
“They expect good government groups like ours and Congressional leaders to work together to hold this administration accountable,” Jones added.
The AAF head added that the organisers were “pleased” they “brought together senior staff and leading outside researchers to focus on enhancing oversight skills”, particularly amid expectations of “increased oversight opportunities in the future”.
The Maryland retreat came as US President Joe Biden’s approval ratings continue to ebb, with one of the latest polls showing that only 39% of adults approve of his job performance.
Recent polling also indicated that inflation is the problem that most worries Americans, and that only 18% of respondents think that Biden has done more to help the economy than hurt it. Also tarnishing the president’s political image is the issue of immigration as only 36% of Americans approve of his handling of the situation on the US’ southern border, according to polls.
With midterm elections slated for November, the Democrats are expected to be in hot water, if Biden fails to turn around his approval rating. The midterms are traditionally tough on the party that is at the helm of the White House.