Press Release - Ranking Member Cole Hearing Remarks on H.R. 6119 & H. Res. ___ (H. Rept. 117-200)

As delivered during today's hearing:

Our hearing today covers two items, a continuing resolution to fund the government through February 18, 2022, and yet another contempt of Congress resolution. I'll discuss the contempt of Congress resolution first.

Unfortunately, this resolution comes to us as the result of an inherently political process driven by an inherently political select committee.

The subject of today's resolution was a high-ranking official in the Department of Justice during the Trump Administration. As this committee is well aware, President Trump has initiated litigation with the Select Committee concerning the scope of its subpoenas. In the course of that litigation, President Trump has asserted questions of executive privilege.

It is up to the courts to make a final determination of the scope of President Trump's privilege claims. The right to make that determination does not lie with Congress.

After being subpoenaed, the subject of today's resolution appeared for a deposition and has repeatedly tried to work with the Select Committee to narrow the scope of questions that were asked and documents sought. The witness informed the Select Committee that, due to President Trump's assertion of executive privilege, he could not answer questions that touched executive privilege until the courts have ruled on this question. As he should have.

And to make matters worse, I understand from yesterday's business meeting of the Select Committee that the witness has agreed to appear at a deposition scheduled for this Saturday. I understand that the witness intends to plead the Fifth Amendment at this deposition, and I would remind the committee that our friend Representative Raskin, who is a member of both this committee and the Select Committee, noted with respect to Steve Bannon that showing up to a deposition to plead the Fifth Amendment is an acceptable response to a subpoena, stating that, "If Mr. Bannon wants to show up and plead the Fifth Amendment because he will incriminate himself, he has that constitutional right."

But not content with that result, the Select Committee now seeks to refer the witness for prosecution under criminal contempt. This is an arbitrary and punitive decision, one that seeks to punish the witness for failing to bend to the wishes of the Select Committee. It is wildly premature, given that the witness has already agreed to appear on Saturday to assert his constitutional rights, and is nothing more than political theater and yet another distraction when this House should be focused on governing the country.

I fail to see what else this witness realistically could have done under the circumstances. The witness has been engaging with the Select Committee, in apparent good faith, and is working to cooperate to the extent he can under the law, but is also bound by his obligations to the former President and his assertions of executive privilege. The Select Committee, and the House, should allow the legal process to play out and should not be referring the witness for criminal contempt even before the process is complete in the Select Committee.

Criminal contempt, as opposed to civil contempt, is an inherently punitive measure, which means it will not help the Select Committee get the documents or testimony they claim to seek, regardless of what my friends on the other side think.

I fear the Majority will continue to erode the legal standing and credibility of the institution with the partisan manner in which they use the subpoena authority of the House.

The second item I'll discuss is H.R. 6119, the continuing resolution through February 18, 2022. As members will recall, this is the second continuing resolution we've had to do this fiscal year. I voted in favor of the CR the last time the House considered this in good faith, assuming that the Majority would actually engage with Republicans on a path forward. Instead, sadly, Democrats have only focused on their latest shiny object - the partisan reconciliation bill. The ongoing efforts to enshrine partisan policies into law may satisfy their base, but they fail the American people as a whole and they sabotage the appropriation process.

Mr. Chairman, the funding of government and keeping it open is the most fundamental responsibility of Congress. We owe it to our constituents to ensure that the services they need do not cease, however temporarily, because of a failure to appropriate the needed funds.

Democrats currently control the White House, the House and the Senate, and if they can corral the votes, they have the ability to pass whatever they want into law. But with that ability also comes responsibility: a responsibility to govern the country. Appropriations can only pass, in the end, in a bipartisan manner.

Unfortunately, it's clear that the Majority has been avoiding that responsibility. Nowhere is this more apparent than with the appropriations process. Since we last passed a continuing resolution at the end of September, nothing has changed. Not involving Republicans until the very last minute - I heard about this deal this morning just after 8 o'clock - and just expecting us to indefinitely support CR after CR is not a way to govern. And the failure to have any conversations about how to come to agreement on full-year appropriations is indefensible.

While I'm sure President Trump will be only too delighted to have his last budget continue for almost a year after he left office, there is real work that is left to be done.

But perhaps what is most frustrating has been the way in which the Majority has bungled reaching a relatively simple deal on this particular continuing resolution. Knowing full well that this Friday's deadline was coming up, the Majority instead dithered for months on their reconciliation package. This week, finally acknowledging that real discussions needed to be had with Republicans, the Majority instead continued to twiddle their thumbs. Indeed, Republicans in the House were completely shut out of this process, leaving us all in the dark about the nature of today's bill up until this morning. Once again, the Majority has chosen to go it alone rather than choosing to work across the aisle.

This is no way to govern, Mr. Chairman. The Majority has demonstrated very clearly that they are unserious about the business of governing this nation. They are unserious about reaching a bipartisan full-year spending deal, just as they are unserious about reaching a deal on this continuing resolution.

The sooner the Majority gets serious about governing, the better for the country. There are real, damaging consequences to these failures, both here and abroad. I urge them to change course sooner rather than later.

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