Most of the Republicans in the U.S. House voted to reject Joe Biden’s election victory last week, even after the insurrectionist riot. Among them were 13 members of the House Armed Services Committee, who ostensibly focus on the nation’s defenses.
It led Jason Schmid, a senior Republican staffer on the House Armed Services Committee, to resign in disgust. Politico reported on what Schmid had to say on his way out the door.
“Anyone who watched those horrible hours unfold should have been galvanized to rebuke these insurrectionists in the strongest terms,” Schmid wrote in a letter addressed to the committee’s top Republican. “Instead, some members whom I believed to be leaders in the defense of the nation chose to put political theater ahead of the defense of the Constitution and the republic.” That included 13 members of the Armed Services Committee, where Schmid has worked for four and a half years as a top policy staffer. The panel’s incoming top Republican, Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, was also among that group.
Politico‘s report noted that Schmid, before working on Capitol Hill, did two tours of duty in Iraq as an Army intelligence analyst, and was wounded during his service while embedded with an Iraqi infantry battalion.
In his resignation letter, Schmid went on to write that GOP lawmakers “harmed the ability of every service member, intelligence officer, and diplomat to defend the nation and advance American interests.” He added they “disregarded” American democratic ideals “for cynical political purposes.”
“Regardless of the motivations behind the vote, these members bear the consequences that the men and women in harm’s way will face for many years to come,” Schmid wrote. “I cannot imagine any series of events more damaging to the already fragile US led post-World War II order that has brought more peace and prosperity to the world than at any other time in history.” He added, “Congressional enablers of this mob have made future foreign conflict more likely, not less.” It’s likely that Republican members of the House Armed Services Committee, if they even see the resignation letter, will shrug it off as unimportant. And that will be a shame because Schmid’s admonishment deserves to be taken seriously.
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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