Free Republic

SALT LAKE CITY — Law enforcement agents with the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service are too "Rambo" to Rep. Jason Chaffetz's liking, so he wants to take away their guns and authority. "These agents are more Rambo and less Andy Griffith than I would like," he told the Deseret News Tuesday. Chafftez, R-Utah, said he plans to introduce a bill next week to strip those two agencies of their law enforcement authority and instead set up a system of block grants to states with a lot of federal lands within their borders to augment local law...

A heated argument erupted Thursday at a hearing on the IRS, with Democrats and Republicans trading charges about the work of the Oversight Committee. Two Democrats on the panel accused their GOP colleagues of repeatedly holding hearings on the IRS for political reasons. In his opening statement, Oversight Committee ranking member Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) complained that the hearing was the 23rd held about the IRS in recent years. "Unfortunately, Republicans have become obsessed with investigating any and every allegation relating to the IRS, no matter how small," he said. He said Republicans are frustrated that they have never found...

Speaker Paul Ryan and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy met privately with Rep. Jason Chaffetz Wednesday evening to reiterate that he cannot proceed with any investigation that involves Hillary Clinton, according to multiple sources familiar with the meeting. The impetus for the gathering was a POLITICO story where Chaffetz, the chairman, of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, was quoted as saying that a pending probe into government record keeping practices would not be "specifically trying to target the secretary, but when she creates her own private email system, she's ensnarled herself.” Presented with the quote before publication, House...

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump's campaign is resonating with Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). "I like a lot of what he's saying" Chaffetz told UtahPolicy.com. "There are a lot of things that he says that I really do like, that I think other people should be talking about and how he does it is his own style." Chaffetz, who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said Trump's followers are "attracted to him for a variety of reasons - they want results, they want somebody who's going to blow through the red tape, who will actually get things done...

“If you flipped through the news channels Wednesday looking for a recap of the House Oversight Committee hearing on Planned Parenthood, you’d think that GOP congressmen had launched a sexist ambush on CEO Cecile Richards. At least that’s what she told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow: ‘I do think some of the comments were pretty sexist,’ Cecile Richards said in an interview on MSNBC’s ‘The Rachel Maddow Show’ late Tuesday. ‘But actually I think it was because they didn’t have anything else to talk about.’ Actually, Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and company had plenty to talk about. Richards’ salary was a minor...

The news alert about Kevin McCarthy’s abandonment of his pursuit to become John Boehner’s successor hit my phone just as I was about to go for a run. Rather than read the whole story, I just smiled and hit the pavement. Within the first few steps I wondered how long it would take before the hyperbole-laden garment rending would begin in the left media about conservatives being the death of the Republican Party, congressional compromise, and the frolicsome joy we so love to see in puppies and kittens. It was a short run, but they were on it by the...

Powerful Republican Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Janesville) stood firm on Thursday in his desire not to become the next Speaker of the House. Ryan, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, issued a statement after House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy shocked the GOP when he abruptly ended his candidacy to replace Speaker John Boehner. "While I am grateful for the encouragement I've received, I will not be a candidate," Ryan said. "I continue to believe I can best serve the country and this (Republican) conference as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee." CNN reported McCarthy was with his wife...

A group of hard-line conservatives threatened to upend the Republican race to succeed outgoing House Speaker John A. Boehner, announcing on Wednesday it will throw its support behind a little-known Florida lawmaker to become the next speaker. The House Freedom Caucus’s backing of Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.) ahead of a crucial internal party vote Thursday deeply complicates Majority Leader Kevin O. McCarthy’s bid to succeed Boehner. The group counts enough members — about 40 — to deny McCarthy the majority of the whole House he would need to claim the speaker’s chair. But in an opening for the California Republican,...

Man, this is tough stuff from an influential conservative at a moment when McCarthy’s desperately trying to convince righties in the House to give him a chance as Speaker. In an unguarded moment, House speaker-in-waiting Kevin McCarthy claimed credit for the decline in Hillary Clinton's poll numbers because House Republicans had formed a congressional committee investigating the attacks in Benghazi, making it look like a political witch hunt. “I heard from him at 6 a.m. the next morning,” Gowdy told the Post on Tuesday when asked about McCarthy. “How many times can somebody apologize? Yes, he’s apologized as many...

House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), an ally of House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in the upcoming Speakership elections, tells reporters that he thinks any GOP House member who doesn’t back McCarthy on the floor should be kicked out of the GOP to go form their own third party. “We’ve been down this road several times and at some point you have to realize how elections work, how the Congress functions and how—what’s laid out clearly in the Constitution as a Democratic Republic,” Nunes says. Several conservative House members are considering bucking McCarthy on the floor...

It probably wasn’t the best idea for Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), the presumptive successor to outgoing Speaker of the House John Boehner, to suggest that Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers were sinking due to the existence of the House Select Committee on Benghazi. The Clinton Team already has a campaign ad about it, and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), who is challenging McCarthy for the speakership, called the remarks “absolutely terrible.” In a second salvo, House Democrats are aiming to dissolve the Select Committee on Benghazi tonight, with Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) proposing the Rules Committee eliminate it tonight, though it’s bound to...

The calendar for new House leadership elections has been pushed back, meaning that the scrambling for position, internal sniping and various bits of dirty laundry being aired is going to stretch on for nearly two more months. Originally we expected to see nominations for the new Speaker and the election of the new Majority Leader and GOP Whip taking place this Thursday, but this afternoon John Boehner threw a wrench in those plans and pushed things back to after he’s left the building. (Washington Post) Outgoing House Speaker John A. Boehner said Monday that lawmakers will elect his replacement on...

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said Monday morning that he is putting a hold on three of President Obama’s ambassadorial nominees until the administration shows it is taking steps to punish Secret Service staff involved in leaking unflattering information about a lawmaker. “This was apparently a violation of law, and absolutely shocking conduct,” Cotton said in an interview. “The executive branch all the way up to the West Wing needs to treat this with the seriousness it requires.” Cotton called on Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to “personally attend” to disciplining top Secret Service leaders — specifically including new Director Joseph...

Sen. Ted Cruz will meet with a group of House Republicans one day before they're scheduled to vote for a new senior leadership team. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, has invited the Texas Republican, leading presidential contender, to address his Conservative Opportunity Society at a Wednesday breakfast meeting. The agenda, according to the invitation, is "conservative strategy for the remainder of the year." Cruz has meddled in House affairs on several occassions, advising supportive insurgent Republicans in the chamber on key legislation and strategic matters. However, it's unclear if Cruz, who ranks fifth in the Washington Examiner's presidential power rankings, plans...

Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz will run for speaker. The Utah Republican announced his decision on Fox News Sunday, citing support from colleagues who “recruited” him to challenge the establishment favorite, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. “We don’t want to fight internally,” Chaffetz told Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, “but realistically we can’t vote to promote the existing leadership. “Kevin McCarthy’s a good man,” Chaffetz said, “and he’s a reason we have such a solid majority. But things have changed, and there’s really a math problem.” Chaffetz granted that McCarthy may have the majority of votes to...

House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz is planning to run for House speaker, taking on Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy in what appears to be a long-shot bid to lead House Republicans, according to multiple sources. The Utah Republican, first elected to Congress in 2008, is launching a campaign less than a week before the Oct. 8 leadership elections for the House GOP Conference. The date for a floor vote to pick the next speaker has not been set yet. McCarthy (R-Calif.) is the overwhelming favorite to win, and it’s unclear how many votes Chaffetz can garner. Chaffetz's office would not comment.

House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz is planning to run for House speaker, taking on Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy in what appears to be a long-shot bid to lead House Republicans, according to multiple sources. The Utah Republican, first elected to Congress in 2008, is launching a campaign less than a week before the Oct. 8 leadership elections for the House GOP Conference. The date for a floor vote to pick the next speaker has not been set yet. McCarthy (R-Calif.) is the overwhelming favorite to win, and it’s unclear how many votes Chaffetz can garner. Chaffetz's office would not comment....

Retaliation. I guess the Secret Service felt it needed to do more to make itself just like a high school. It’s not enough that agents like to get drunk while on assignment and pick up prostitutes. Now, if anyone investigates their misdeeds, they’re going to get back at the narc by spreading stories about him. Oh, by the way, these are the people who protect the life of the president. That should make you feel warm and cuddly inside. So when Congressman Jason Chaffetz drove an investigation into the misdeeds and failings of the Secret Service, you can bet they...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — Scores of U.S. Secret Service employees improperly accessed the decade-old, unsuccessful job application of a congressman who was investigating scandals inside the agency, a new government report said Wednesday. An assistant director suggested leaking embarrassing information to retaliate against Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, chairman of the House oversight committee.</p>

The Secret Service’s assistant director urged that unflattering information the agency had in its files about a congressman critical of the service should be made public, according to a government watchdog report released Wednesday. “Some information that he might find embarrassing needs to get out,” Assistant Director Edward Lowery wrote in an e-mail to a fellow director on March 31, commenting on an internal file that was being widely circulated inside the service. “Just to be fair.” Two days later, a news Web site reported that Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, had applied to be...