Congressional Cowards is a weekly collection highlighting the worst Donald Trump defenders on Capitol Hill, who refuse to criticize him—irrespective of how disgraceful or lawless his actions.
GOP lawmakers are patting themselves on the again over the truth that President Donald Trump will now be compelled to launch the Epstein recordsdata.
After all, the lawmakers who now need credit score for the just about unanimous passage of the invoice don’t deserve it. For months, they both stayed silent as Trump and Home Speaker Mike Johnson blocked a vote on the invoice or made excuses for his or her delay techniques.
In fact, simply 4 Republicans can take credit score for the success of the laws.
Home Majority Chief Steve Scalise tried to forestall a vote on the invoice to launch the Epstein recordsdata—now he needs to take credit score for it.
Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, and Nancy Mace of South Carolina caught their necks out to affix Democrats in signing a discharge petition requiring Johnson to place the invoice up for a vote—although he actually did not need to.
Greene misplaced her relationship with Trump over the invoice, whereas Boebert was dragged into the White Home so Trump might strain her to take away her identify from the petition—a requirement she refused to heed.
As soon as the petition was profitable, Trump reluctantly gave his blessing to Republicans to vote for it—realizing that it was going to go anyway.
It’s no profile in braveness to have refused to assist the invoice after which demand credit score as soon as it handed, however that did not cease Republicans from doing simply that.
Home Majority Chief Steve Scalise ludicrously informed The New York Instances that the passage of the invoice was, “an essential vote to proceed to point out the transparency that we’ve delivered,” although he tried to fend off a vote on the invoice for months.
And Rep. Kat Cammack of Florida by no means advocated for the invoice, however that didn’t cease her from claiming credit score for its passage.
“Accountability cannot be partisan. Whether addressing systemic cover-ups or holding colleagues in Congress to a higher standard, my responsibility is to deliver transparency for the American people and defend the integrity of our institutions,” she wrote on X. “Thank you to Fox 35 Orlando for having me on this morning to discuss why this work matters and why justice must prevail.”
A cartoon by Drew Sheneman.
Rep. Jen Kiggans of Virginia additionally needed credit score, saying in a press release that she was “proud that the Home took motion right now to show the reality,” although she did nothing to make sure the vote would occur.
However maybe essentially the most shameless Republican is Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas. Earlier than the discharge petition succeeded, Nehls wrote on X that he can be “voting NO on the Epstein Hoax.”
“The Democrats are using the Epstein Hoax to distract us from the winning of President Trump and his administration,” he wrote. “My message to my Republican colleagues: Don’t let this noise keep us from delivering on the mandate the American people gave us.”
However Nehls shortly modified his vote to a “yes” as soon as Trump gave his blessing.
“As President Trump has stated, we’ve got nothing to cover. I voted YES to launch the recordsdata so we are able to transfer on from the smear marketing campaign the Democrats have manufactured, and proceed to advance insurance policies that profit hardworking Individuals,” he wrote on X.
Fortunately, the Republicans who truly fought for the invoice’s passage slammed their very own management and fellow lawmakers for his or her spinelessness.
“The speaker was dragged to it kicking and screaming, but here we are,” Massie, who co-sponsored the invoice, stated after it handed. “It’s not necessarily a rebalancing of the branches of government, but a rebalancing of the people against the executive branch.”
