If GOP lawmakers want to talk tough on criminal justice, they should start by denouncing former President Donald Trump’s attacks on the feds, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.
A day before House Republicans were set to hold a hearing criticizing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Schumer on Sunday tied them to Trump’s verbal onslaught against the Justice Department and FBI.
“As members of Congress prepare to walk the streets of New York City, the House GOP must be clear and vociferous that defunding the FBI, defunding the Department of Justice will not happen.”
The House Judiciary Committee plans to hold a hearing on Bragg’s track record in Manhattan on Monday.
Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, is a vocal Trump backer who said earlier this month that Congress should consider cutting DOJ and FBI funding.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, has been “silent” on the matter, Schumer noted.
Messages left at phone numbers for Jordan and McCarthy were not immediately returned.
Trump’s attacks on the DOJ and FBI, a hallmark of his time in the White House, have continued since he lost reelection.
“Republicans in Congress should defund the DOJ and FBI until they come to their senses,” he raged earlier this month, writing in all-caps on his Truth Social platform.
Schumer called such statements “baseless” and “self-serving,” adding that defunding the feds “could come at real cost to New York City, Long Island and beyond.”
“It’s not just rhetoric; it’s a reality, it’s a possible reality,” he said.
“Every member of the House and Senate — Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative — should denounce attempts by former President Trump and his allies to degrade public trust in our law enforcement agencies out of personal pique and grievance,” he added.
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