House Hearing On GOP Emissions Assault; Rouda - Gym Jordan "More Than Welcome To Leave At Any Time"
Lawmakers engaged in partisan brinkmanship this morning as Republicans tried to shut down a hearing on clean car rules. The stated purpose of the House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Environment hearing was to probe the Trump administration's rollback of Obama-era environmental standards.
But about 15 minutes into the discussion, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) asked for a quorum call, throwing the scheduled events into disarray. Republicans urged Chairman Harley Rouda (D-Calif.) to hold the vote so they could leave for impeachment-related proceedings in the basement of the Capitol. There, in a secure room, White House staffer Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman was testifying about the July 25 phone between President Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart that sparked the House Democrats' impeachment inquiry.
Rouda largely ignored the GOP and delayed the quorum roll call until more Democrats showed up at the sparsely attended hearing. That prompted a harsh rebuke from Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the ranking member on Oversight and Reform and former chairman of the hard-right Freedom Caucus. "It's not our fault that your members won't show up," Jordan told Rouda. "You got staff here; you got counsel here. All you have to do is do your job."
Rouda replied: "No one's making you wait. You're more than welcome to leave at any time."
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