In a letter obtained by CBS News, Jordan and Republicans on the panel made their first request for testimony and documents from the Biden White House since the GOP won control of the chamber. They wrote to White House chief of staff Ron Klein to ask White House officials to testify early in the next Congress as part of a House GOP investigation into what they say is “the misuse of federal funds for criminal and anti-terrorism to target concerned parents at school board meetings.” House Judiciary Republicans want to know more about any action the Biden administration has taken on an October 2021 memo from Attorney General Merrick Garland noting the “alarming increase in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against school principals, of board members, teachers and staff’. and directing FBI and US attorneys to meet with federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial leaders to address strategies to address these threats. The memo followed a September 2021 letter from the National School Boards Association asking the administration to investigate threats of violence against school board members that “could amount to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.” Jordan and Republicans on the committee believe Executive Office of the President officials were involved in discussions surrounding the National School Boards Association’s letter and earlier this year requested documents and information about the “White House collusion with the NSBA.” Republicans on the committee claim the administration is using law enforcement to “chill” parents’ First Amendment rights, though the letter does not call parents who protest school board meetings “domestic terrorists,” as claimed by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. An Associated Press fact check is noted. “The American people … deserve much more accountability and transparency regarding the Biden administration’s directives against parents,” Jordan said in an Oct. 17 letter to Klein, asking the White House to preserve all records related to issue. Jordan’s Friday letter sought testimony from Mary C. Wall, the senior counsel for the COVID-19 response team. Julie C. Rodridguez, director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. Katherine Pantangco, policy advisor for the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs; and Nezly Silva, senior policy analyst for the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. Requesting a deposit is voluntary — for now. But if the officials do not agree to testify and provide records, in January, when Republicans control the House, “the committee may be forced to resort to compulsory process to obtain the material we require,” Friday’s letter said. Jordan’s efforts to obtain records related to the National School Boards Association letter and the Justice Department memo have so far been unsuccessful. The White House suggested that congressional Republicans may not have their priorities in the right place. “Instead of working with President Biden to address issues important to the American people, like lower costs, congressional Republicans’ top priority is to go after President Biden with politically motivated attacks full of long-winded debunking of conspiracy theories,” Ian said. Shams. spokesman for the White House Counsel’s office. “President Biden is not going to let these political attacks distract him from focusing on the priorities of the American people, and we hope that congressional Republicans will join us in addressing them instead of wasting time and resources on political vendetta.” Jordan’s letter to the White House on Friday is just the beginning of the series of investigations the House is expected to take up once the 118th Congress sits and Republicans are in control. Jordan’s committee and Republicans on the House Oversight and Reform Committee also plan to investigate Hunter Biden and the president himself. Jordan has sent letters to the White House seeking depositions and information on a range of issues since Mr. Biden took office, despite the Republicans’ current lack of subpoena power. It remains to be seen exactly how many seats Republicans will hold in the 118th Congress, though CBS News has projected the GOP to hold between 218-223 seats. To control the lower chamber, they need 218. A few races remain to be decided. Not all Republicans believe focusing on multiple investigations into the Biden administration and Hunter Biden is the best course of action. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed last week, Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah appeared to encourage the party to avoid such hearings and instead focus on things like inflation, the debt, spending and the economy. rights and immigration reform. “Two roads diverge before this potential GOP majority,” Romney wrote last week. “The one ‘less traveled’ would be to pass bills that would make things better for the American people. The more tempting and historically more crowded road would be to pursue pointless investigations, messaging accounts, threats and government shutdowns.”

Kathryn Watson

Kathryn Watson is a political reporter for CBS News Digital based in Washington, DC