Republican efforts to open every crack in the Biden administration have uncovered a rare and underrated Republican pair: Jim Jordan and James Comer.
Jordan (R-Ohio), Chair of the Judiciary Committee, and Comer (R-Kentucky), Chair of the Oversight Committee, played dual roles in hosting the GOP's most politically sensitive investigative parade, a dynamic praised by GOP colleagues. . as "amazing synergy" but Democrats poked fun at bad cops - the worst cops.
They talk all the time, call themselves good friends, and participate in weekly meetings with the other committee chairs. Yet, despite attempts to isolate these separate lines of investigation, the more issues they touched on, the louder the echoes of their first hearings and requests for information: both about Hunter Biden, and Twitter, and about the government's "border policy."
Republicans are betting that they can put together a team straight out of the fighting era in Jordan. But Democrats are watching closely, trying to politically capture every point of tension and follow the Republican pair.
"We communicate. There will always be overlap, but that's not the case right now," Comer said in a brief interview about their relationship.
Jordan added that he and Comer "worked together around the clock," including coordinating House meetings and talking on the phone in their absence.
“He can do all the good work that he does and he can do the same things we are working on. I really don't care. … I think we are over complicating. Let's do our job," Jordan said.
On paper, the two don't seem to work together: though they often vote together, they're barely in sync, having violated the Farm Act and cannabis can laws in recent years. Notably, Jordan supported Trump's call for the 2020 election and ignored the January 6 agenda from the selection committee; Comer noted that he voted to confirm President Joe Biden's win even though his district voted the most votes for Trump in 2020.
And they rule in different ways. Jordan is a former chair of the Libertarian caucus, whose influence in Washington grew because of his ability to challenge and influence the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives.
Comer's rise through the ranks of the Republican Party was smoother, having beaten conservative opponents less than three years earlier to take the top seat on the party's oversight committee. But with Kentucky's vast political network raising age-old questions about his next move, Comer wasn't happy before picking up the gavel either.
Comer joked that Jordan, known for his quick lines, "puts in more words per minute than I do." And he's made it clear he doesn't see himself as Jordan's rival, comparing Ohio to Buckeye native LeBron James and calling himself "the lucky one on the team."
"I thought it was okay, everyone was acting like it wasn't right," Comer said of their relationship. “Maybe I'm a gullible country boy.
However, the Republicans supported him, explaining this by the clear appeal of the opposition.
Rep. Kelly Armstrong (RN.D.), a Republican member of the House Judiciary and Oversight Committee, acknowledged they had "very different personalities" but said they were "more effective together."
"He's not a good cop, he's a bad cop, but he's harder to catch than his more sober personality," he said.
Unsurprisingly, the Research Partnerships Act has become a prime target for Democrats, the White House, and Biden's global allies, who see its rise as a sign of how Republicans will use their majority: throwing all their power into government despite a lack of evidence. , many statements. Democrats strongly believe that the Jordan and Comer investigation will be met with a strong reaction from the Republicans in the Purple district and the winner of Biden.
And the Bidens believe they already have plenty of material to work with.
Although the Democrats broke up with Jordan long ago, it was Comer who suffered from his colleagues on the other side. Kentuckian has a near-constant presence on television, sparking personal questions from Democrats about whether he is trying to appeal to the conservative base that has accepted Jordan.
© J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer speaks with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan during a meeting of the Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, January 31, 2023.Recently, Comer made headlines for days when he cited the late Beau Biden as an example of U.S. Attorneys in Delaware who went head-to-head investigating the Bidens. The White House called Comer's comments "disgusting". The chief superintendent said his comments were misinterpreted and he never said Biden's son, who died of cancer, "should be prosecuted."
And it's not just Democrats who have criticized Comer's and Jordan's approach. Some GOP insiders have recently questioned the speed of Jordan's investigation, and Comer's long list of cases has raised questions in the media about whether it is taking too long.
They draw a clear dividing line: Jordan is conducting a thorough investigation of the Department of Justice and the FBI, two key targets of Republicans who have grown increasingly hostile to federal law enforcement during the Trump administration. Meanwhile, Comer digs into the failed withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, digs up a lot of government nonsense and digs into how trillions of dollars have been spent fighting the coronavirus.
And, true to his reputation, Jordan publicly summoned a number of subpoenas for documents and interviews, while Comer issued his first three subpoenas with little fanfare. And Comer seems more inclined to delve into topics that are not necessarily new to him, such as border contracts.
But some lines just blurred: they held back-to-back hearings at the border, Comer used him to interview administration officials, while Jordan called non-government witnesses critical of the Biden administration. Ohio also held a court hearing in Yuma, Arizona, which was boycotted by Democrats, adding to the political tone of the rally.
And while Comer spoke openly about the accusations against Biden himself and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Majorcas on national television, he was careful in the congressional chambers to direct questions to Jordan.
Jordan is also a member of the Oversight Committee, which his staff and colleagues say helps them coordinate strategy. But it's also a visual reminder of the coincidence: Jordan was literally sitting next to Comer on a raised platform.
Comer led most of the investigation into Hunter Biden, but Jordan also examined a letter from a former intelligence official who warned that a 2020 New York Post article about the president's son's laptop could be disinformation. Earlier this month, he sent a letter asking why Attorney General Merrick Garland did not appoint special counsel to investigate the Hunter Biden case, which the Justice Department has been investigating for some time.
Last month, the chief watchdog held an audience with former Twitter executives where Republicans questioned them about the social network's decision to temporarily limit access to these New York Post articles starting in 2020. Jordan, for his part, is set to hold a second politicized government hearing. this week in "Twitter Files": reports suggesting collusion between the FBI and corporate executives to cover up the Post story.
Both cite these fields as examples of how they can study the same general topics but approach them from different angles.
And their peers are still willing to give them more leeway as long as they don't maintain the same audiences back-to-back.
"They are good friends. They talk a lot," said Rep. Chip Roy (RT). "When two audiences do the same thing at the same time, that's a problem, but I haven't seen it."
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