PITTSBURGH — Using a factory floor in Monongahela as a backdrop, U.S. House Republican leaders, on a no-holds-barred pursuit to take back the majority this November, unveiled a plan on Friday to curb inflation, secure the southern border and fight rising crime rates — an effort, they said, that will show they’re not just railing against Democrats, but offering solutions to America’s problems.
Releasing a plan Republicans call “Commitment to America,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said GOP members have spent the last year traveling the country to listen to Americans’ recollections of the impacts of Democratic policies. Now, they’re forming an agenda around what they heard, McCarthy said — a commitment not to Washington, D.C., but Washington County.
McCarthy, railing against one-party control in Washington, said the result of Democratic efforts have been rising costs for families, spikes in violent crime and parents losing control over their child’s education. The party in control has no plan, he claimed.
“They control the House, the Senate and the White House. They control the committees. They control the agencies ... but they have no plan to fix all the problems they created,” McCarthy, R-Calif., said. “So you know what? We’ve created a commitment to America.”
The plan comes as Republicans seek to solidify their strategy, once again, ahead of the midterm elections that are less than 50 days away. The GOP needs to gain six seats to retake the majority in the House, and if it happens, McCarthy is first in line to take the speaker’s gavel.
Republican leaders said their plan includes curbing wasteful spending, increasing energy production and moving supply chains away from China and back to the U.S., at a time when the economy continues to feel the impacts of a multi-year pandemic, a flood of government spending and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Alongside a third consecutive interest rate hike, the Fed’s latest economic projections, released this week, show that the central bank expects unemployment to jump to 4.4% next year.
Meanwhile, on the southern border, where Republicans are focusing a sizable chunk of their midterm messaging, President Joe Biden’s administration continues to face a record-breaking surge of border-crossings.
U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, whose district includes Monongahela, said it speaks volumes that GOP leaders wanted to roll this plan out in Washington County, and not with the Capitol behind them. It’s D.C. politics, he said, that have threatened the American dream, and it’s up to Republicans to “get us back on track.”
Reschenthaler is running unopposed on this November’s ballot, but that doesn’t mean Western Pennsylvania won’t play a role in the GOP’s majority pursuit. One of the most competitive districts in the country, the newly-drawn 17th, is nearby, and Democrat Chris Deluzio and Republican Jeremy Shaffer are locked in a neck-and-neck fight. The seat is ranked a toss-up by Cook Political Report.
House Republican Whip Steve Scalise, of Louisiana, joining members of his caucus on Friday, said it’d be easy for Republicans to sit back and hammer Democrats ahead of November, but it’s not good enough. They need to present their own vision, he said.
Reschenthaler said the vision includes hiring more police officers — at least 200,000 he said — which can be done through recruiting bonuses, according to leadership.
The GOP also will establish a special select committee on China, fight for voter ID at the ballot box and advance a “parents bill of rights” to give them more control of their child’s education, members said.
U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said if Republicans take back the majority, they’ll use their committee power to investigate a wide range of issues on behalf of the constituents. He said committees will investigate the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, COVID-19’s roots in China and the “weaponization of the (Department of Justice) against the American people.”
The first thing Republicans will do, McCarthy said, is pass a bill repealing the recruitment of 87,000 Internal Revenue Service agents, a hot-button issue for Republicans as they argue that Democrats are targeting everyday Americans with over-extensive regulations.
U.S. Treasury officials and tax experts say the hires, over the next decade, will mainly replace retiring agents, answer taxpayer questions and program new equipment. The IRS expects more than 50,000 retirements over the next five years, according to Reuters.
“Our job is to work for you, not go after you,” McCarthy said. “Our job is to make America stronger.”
Democratic leaders, embracing the contrast between the parties in their own way on Friday, responded to the plan by deploying House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, of Maryland, to Pittsburgh, where he touted the party’s record.
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