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Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee “will not comply” with Chairman Adam Schiff’s, D-Calif., COVID-19 testing requirement to take part in committee business.
House GOP leadership held a news conference on Wednesday with House Intelligence Committee member Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, announcing committee Republicans’ noncompliance with Schiff’s demand.
Turner revealed that Schiff had instructed committee members to “present negative tests” ahead of Thursday’s briefing in order to take part in the hearing — one of a member’s basic job functions.
AMERICANS GRADE PRESIDENT BIDEN AS POLL NUMBER TAKE ANOTHER HIT
Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, on March 28, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The Ohio Republican said that while Americans “struggle just to get basic access to testing” and endure “vaccine mandates and vaccine ID mandates” to go about their daily lives in certain cities, Schiff “believes members of Congress should be tested just to show up for work.”
“The American public does not have this privilege, and we will not comply,” Turner said. “The Biden administration failed to plan for needed testing for the American people. Schiff believes that he should have a privilege that the average American worker does not.”
“Our members will not comply with Schiff’s request that we submit to COVID testing just to do our job,” he concluded.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., on July 26, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
The Republicans’ announcement came hours before President Biden’s own news conference, bringing him into the double-digits for number of news conferences a year into his term.
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House Republican leaders, including Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana and GOP conference chair Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, also spoke at the news conference.
Scalise eviscerated Biden over his first year in office, saying the president would “get an ‘F’ for failing the American people” on the challenges facing the nation, even if graded “on a curve.”
