Republicans on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee have disbanded the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.
“Oversight Republicans are realigning subcommittees to ensure the efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability of the federal government and all its agencies,” a spokesperson for the committee told The Hill. “Going forward, subcommittees will now be better equipped to meet our mission, identify problems, and propose meaningful legislative reforms for the American people.”
The Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties focused on several issues including voting rights and criminal justice reform.
Oversight Committee chairman James Comer (R-Ky) said on Tuesday that even though the subcommittee is disbanded, topics related to those issues can still be brought before the committee.
“Let me be very clear: any topic that’s not mentioned in the subcommittee jurisdiction is reserved for the full committee,” Comer said. “We can have a committee hearing in this committee on basically anything we want.”
But, Democrats are demanding that Comer reinstate the subcommittee, arguing that eliminating the panel indicates that matters pertaining to civil rights and civil liberties are not important in the Republican-controlled House.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), a civil rights attorney, said disbanding the panel sends an “unmistakable message to the American people that their civil rights and civil liberties are no longer a priority to the 118th Congress.”
Crockett has introduced an amendment to reinstate the subcommittee.
“Rather than squandering their authority on investigations of the President’s family, the Chairman and House Republicans should use their authority to conduct oversight and investigate the merciless murders of innocent Americans – mainly Americans who look like me – at the hands of law enforcement,” Crockett said in a statement. “Systemic policing and extremist violence are killing people, devastating our communities, and breaking the hearts of families we took an oath to defend and protect at all costs.”
