Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee plan to deliberately not attend a crucial hearing on the ongoing border crisis that is set to take place in Arizona next week.
As Breitbart reports, two of the most senior Democrats on the committee, ranking member Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who serves as the ranking member for the subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, released a joint statement complaining about the Republican leadership’s plans for the next hearing.
“Next week, Judiciary Republicans will hold their second stunt hearing on border security. Despite the importance of this issue, there was no consultation with Judiciary Democrats, many of whom have already committed to attending other bipartisan congressional delegation trips,” the statement reads.
However, their assertion that Democrats received “no consultation” is false, as Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) announced the planned border hearing on social media on February 1st, three weeks prior to the date the hearing is set to take place.
Furthermore, a Republican aide confirmed that the committee’s Republican staff had already been “in communication with Democrat staff about the border hearing via phone, text, and email.”
“All of the Democrats were invited to come, but apparently not one could find time to attend an official congressional hearing,” said the aide, under conditions of anonymity. “Democrats have asked if it was acceptable for them to send a staffer on the trip. How did the Democrat staffer find out about the trip if they weren’t consulted?”
Nadler and Jayapal made additional false claims in their statement, asserting that “Judiciary Republicans will once again not hear from any federal government witnesses at their hearing, further cementing this hearing as a brazen act of political grandstanding.”
However, another anonymous GOP source confirmed that the planned hearing will indeed feature testimony from local authorities and residents who have been directly impacted by the flood of illegal immigration under Joe Biden’s watch.