Senate Democrats staged a near-total boycott Wednesday of a GOP-led listening to into former President Joe Biden’s psychological health and the alleged “cover-up” surrounding it—an evidence-free campaign Republicans refuse to let go of.
Solely two Democrats confirmed up at first: Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Peter Welch of Vermont. Durbin, the Judiciary Committee’s rating member, didn’t keep lengthy. He used his opening remarks to torch the listening to as a sideshow, then walked out.
“The Republican majority on this committee has not held a single oversight hearing despite numerous critical challenges facing the nation that are under our jurisdiction,” Durbin mentioned, highlighting the current assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and the handcuffing of Sen. Alex Padilla throughout a Division of Homeland Safety press occasion—points he mentioned deserve actual consideration. Padilla, a California Democrat, additionally serves on the Judiciary Committee.
U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., is pushed out of the room as Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem holds a information convention concerning the current protests in Los Angeles, on June 12.
“Apparently, armchair diagnosing former President Biden is more important than the issues of grave concern, which I have mentioned,” Durbin added.
He then went even additional, suggesting that if cognitive decline was actually the problem, Republicans must be taking a look at President Donald Trump.
“If we’re going to make a question of cognitive ability, I think we should consider what happened in Alberta, Canada, just this week,” Durbin mentioned earlier than taking part in a video montage of Trump rambling about hurricanes being “the wettest from the standpoint of water” and migrants “eating the dogs” and “eating the cats.”
Welch didn’t grasp round both. In line with Politico, he exited quickly after denouncing the proceedings as a waste of time that had nothing to do along with his constituents.
The listening to—absurdly titled “Unfit to Serve: How the Biden Cover-Up Endangered America and Undermined the Constitution”—underscores how Republicans in Congress stay fixated on Biden’s ultimate months in workplace, despite the fact that he’s largely stepped out of public life. It featured three GOP witnesses, together with former Trump press secretary Sean Spicer and former administration official Theodore Wold. Their testimony largely revolved round Biden’s use of an autopen and media protection of his psychological acuity throughout his ultimate months in workplace.
In the meantime, over within the Home, Oversight Chair James Comer is working his personal investigation into Biden’s psychological state, lining up interviews with former senior White Home workers in quest of something to again up the GOP’s claims. On high of that, Trump’s Justice Division is reportedly weighing whether or not Biden was competent sufficient to situation pardons throughout his ultimate weeks of workplace, yet one more autopen-related conspiracy.
Oversight Chair James Comer
Nonetheless, Republicans handled Wednesday’s Senate listening to like Watergate 2.0.
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas declared the scenario a “constitutional crisis” and used the panel—and his social media feed—to push claims that Biden’s aides, and even Jill Biden, had been secretly working the present. A part of his so-called proof included a Beltway e-book co-written by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’s Alex Thompson, which alleges that Biden’s internal circle hid his declining talents.
“We need to know who was in charge during the last months of the Biden administration,” Cornyn mentioned.
It’s not exhausting to see what’s occurring. Cornyn, who cochairs the committee, is locked in a high-stakes 2026 main struggle in opposition to Texas Legal professional Common Ken Paxton—and attempting to out-MAGA his opponent.
His cochair, Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri, echoed the speaking factors and blasted Democrats for strolling out.
“This de facto boycott is not just a refusal to participate,” Schmitt mentioned. “It’s a refusal to serve the American people who deserve answers about who was truly leading their government.”
However Democrats are proper to name this what it’s: a farce. Biden is now not in workplace. The GOP’s obsession along with his psychological health isn’t about oversight—it’s about maintaining a drained narrative alive.
And like we’ve mentioned earlier than, they most likely gained’t cease. As a result of at this level, it’s all they’ve bought.
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