Posted on 03/06/2014 11:15:27 AM PST by jazusamo
VIDEO: 4 minutes - Rep. Marcia Fudge's oral presentation of the privileged resolution on House floor.
The chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus is calling House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) to be stripped of his gavel for his behavior at a contentious IRS hearing on Wednesday.
Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) told Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday that Issa’s conduct in the hearing — which included cutting off the microphone of Rep. Elijah Cummings (Md.), the ranking Democrat — amounted to “an affront to the expectations of the American people.” Fudge also said Issa should apologize on the House floor.
“The American people have the right to expect that their elected leaders be held to the highest possible standards of conduct. Congressional committee leaders are held to an even higher standard due to their unique positions,” Fudge wrote in a letter to Boehner.
“Congressman Darrell Issa of California abused his authority and therefore must be reprimanded to ensure the dignity of the House of Representatives is preserved.”
Fudge’s letter comes in the wake of a memorable House Oversight hearing with Lois Lerner, the former IRS official at the center of the agency’s targeting controversy. While the Oversight Committee is no stranger to conflict, the hearing turned rowdy even by the committee’s usual standards.
Lerner invoked her Fifth Amendment rights before the panel, as she had at a May 2013 hearing.
After Issa had adjourned the hearing, Cummings tried to make a statement, at which point Issa cut off his microphone. Democrats yelled “Shame!”
Cummings loudly criticized Issa’s handling of the IRS investigation without the microphone, calling it one-sided and “un-American.”
“I am a member of the United States Congress of America! I am tired of this!” he yelled.
Boehner stood by Issa on Thursday, saying he was “within his rights to adjourn the hearing.”
The Speaker faced repeated questions from reporters about Issa’s behavior at his weekly Capitol press conference, and offered the oversight chairman a clear if unenthusiastic endorsement when asked if he would bow to Democratic demands to replace him.
“Darrell Issa is the chairman. He’s done an effective job as chairman. I support him,” Boehner said.
Democrats are using the hearing to push the message that Republicans are running the House in a heavy-handed manner.
Dozens of Democrats appeared on the House floor Thursday to demand that the House condemn Issa, a call that Fudge put forward separately in a privileged resolution.
"Chairman Issa's abusive behavior on March 5 is part of a continuing pattern in which he has routinely excluded members of the Committee from investigative meetings, and has routinely provided information to the press before sharing it with Committee members," the resolution reads.
The resolution charges that Issa violated House rules, which say members must "behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House."
Issa has suggested that Cummings, the Oversight panel’s top Democrat and a CBC member, is the one who should be apologizing.
The Oversight chairman told reporters that he had already told Cummings that there wouldn’t be opening statements, because Wednesday’s hearing was technically a continuation of Lerner’s earlier appearance.
Issa also said that Cummings has gone to great lengths to impede the committee’s oversight efforts.
— Pete Kasperowicz, Russell Berman and Mike Lillis contributed.
The CBC is racist!
So do you think the ignorant twit feels the same with the Ethics complaint filed against Cummings for misusing Official House Committee Stationary to demand information from Tea Party Groups that have complained about the Abuse or Elijah Cummings personally traveling to Texas to harass one of those Groups founders at their place of business? Of course not, throw down the race card and hold your breath... Someone needs to get the racist black congresscritters a new play book.
That’s right, Cummins is the same black a-hole liar that claimed some bad guys used the N word when the dems were taking their “victory” lap after they passed Obamacare after shutting out any input from Repubs. Claim was never substantiated despite hundred of news cameras. In character, Cummins lied again when he said he had a question and instead started in on a rant. As far as the CBC claim that congress members should “behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House.”— the CBC and dems have continuously violated that as standard procedure.
I would so enjoy hearing the howling, weeping and gnashing of teeth from this crowd if the forming of a Congressional WHITE Caucus was ever discussed.
The CBC seems to be conveying the message that whitey can’t criticize brothers. It’s time for conservatives to NOT back off to these racists.
That’s Issa on the left.
The way in which Catherine Engelbrecht ripped Cummings was a thing of beauty.
The CBC should be turned out of the Capitol. It was thrown out but the racist Pelosi restored it.
They should be thrown out to meet in a church somewhere they spend the walking around money.
Well, I’d like to know what the Congressional White Caucus has to say on this matter.
The Congressional Black Ca-cas......
No one said a thin when Waxman told the Republican Rep to shut up and that he would have him thrown out of the hearing if he said another word, Oh right it’s Ok because he’s a Democrat.
Rep. Elijah Cummings (Md.) needs a remedial course
in Robert's Rules of Order !
Listen to the Black Klan bluster and blow.
The CWC (you know what that stands for) says to the CBC, “Up Yours!!!!!!”
Name one issue the racists belonging to the CBC have ever been right about. ONE. These anti american democrats vote color over correct every time.
If only the Republican ‘leaders’ would act like Democrats on a daily basis. Sigh
It appears to me that Issa wasn’t going to waste money or time.
I don’t see the problem other than Elijah felt all butt hurt cause he worked hard writing his speech.
Yeah. Cummings says he wants to ask a procedural question and then starts making a partisan speech, but Issa’s the one abusing the process. Got it.
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