Congressional Republicans have become a little fond of targeting government offices they don’t like by pushing to take away their resources. As we recently discussed, many GOP lawmakers, especially in the House, have raised the specter of defunding the FBI. And the ATF. And the Justice Department. And the IRS. And the FDA. And the Department of Homeland Security.
But as CBS News reported, let’s not forget that a variety of congressional Republicans are also eager to defund special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecutions.
In a series of new proposals, House Republicans are attempting to prohibit the use of federal money to pay for Smith’s investigation and criminal cases against Trump. At least three different efforts are already underway, according to a CBS News review. Though they are unlikely to generate any large number of supporters and are being criticized as political posturing, the proposals could eventually derail fragile negotiations to avoid a government shutdown or emergency funding for natural disaster relief in Hawaii and Vermont. And they could be a wedge issue inside the Republican Party on Capitol Hill.
Republican Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee introduced one of the measures, and told CBS News in a written statement, “It’s well past time that Congress uses its power of the purse to tell Jack Smith ‘you’re fired.’”
To date, no GOP members have uncovered any wrongdoing on the special counsel’s part. What’s more, the Republican lawmakers haven’t pointed to any specific flaws in any of the indictments Smith’s office has brought against the former president.
But they’re eager to defund the special counsel’s investigations anyway. Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin told CBS News, “Republicans are no longer a political party, but a cult following Donald Trump’s orders. Holding government funding hostage in order to protect the four-time indicted former president is irresponsible at best, and dangerous at worst.”
Given the fact that these efforts will inevitably fail — the Democratic-led Senate is not going to approve appropriations bills that strip the special counsel’s offices of resources — it’s tempting to just roll one’s eyes at the measures and move on.
But in this case, it’s not quite that simple. For one thing, House GOP leaders might struggle to prevent a government shutdown next month, and the more far-right Republicans prioritize anti-Smith efforts, the greater the challenge might become.
For another, it’ll be worth watching how House Speaker Kevin McCarthy deals with the far-right push.
Revisiting our earlier coverage, common sense might suggest that the House speaker, who sees oddball bills introduced on a nearly daily basis, would ignore these efforts and treat them as foolish stunts. But in recent weeks and months, many also assumed McCarthy would ignore the efforts to “expunge” Trump’s impeachments, impeach Attorney General Merrick Garland, load up the NDAA with far-right culture war priorities, turn over sensitive Jan. 6 security footage to a far-right media personality, and take seriously an impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden. Instead, McCarthy has expressed tacit support for all of these. As the House speaker takes orders from Mar-a-Lago, while going along with absurd talking points about Smith, the justice system, and the “weaponization” of agencies that haven’t actually been weaponized, there’s no reason to assume that McCarthy will reflexively reject the campaign to undermine the special counsel’s office by targeting his budget. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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