Republicans in the House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress, after their attempts to pressure the Department of Justice head to release audio clips with President Joe Biden.
The audio clips, of which a transcript has been widely available for months, come from conversations between Biden and the now-resigned special counsel Robert Hur. Republicans argue the clips would demonstrate Biden showed signs of memory lapses and age, while critics point to potential ulterior political motivations.
Ken Buck, a former Republican congressman, called the move a “political stunt” in an interview with CNN last month, adding, “They released the transcript. They have the information. They’re just looking for something for political purposes.”
House Republicans, who hold a narrow grasp on the chamber, have launched a number of partisan attacks on the Biden administration after weeks of chaos brought the chamber to a stand-still last year.
Garland, in a statement, said that it was “deeply disappointing that this House of Representatives has turned a serious congressional authority into a partisan weapon.”
The charge now heads to the Garland-led DOJ, where its expected to stall out.
The weaponization of one of the House of Representatives’ only judicial powers comes amidst an escalation of Republicans’ attacks on the Biden Administration through the chamber. In February, GOP congresspeople faced scrutiny for their hyper-partisan attempt to impeach Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for what they called a border crisis.
“House Republicans will be remembered by history for trampling on the Constitution for political gain rather than working to solve the serious challenges at our border," DHS spokeswoman Mia Ehrenberg said at the time.
