House GOP ponders action against DOJ in defense of Trump

House Republicans coming to former President Trump’s defense in the Mar-a-Lago documents care are turning their attention to the possibility of using congressional funding and oversight authority against the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Monday called to defund special counsel Jack Smith and his office — which is handling the Trump documents case — through the appropriations process.

“This is a weaponized government attempt to take down the top political enemy and leading presidential candidate of the United States, Donald J. Trump. We cannot allow the government to be weaponized for political purposes,” Greene said on the House floor.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) would not rule out subpoenaing Smith or asking him to testify as part of his focus on the “weaponization” of federal law enforcement agencies, telling reporters this week he is keeping all options on the table.

But there is not yet widespread agreement on using spending authority to fight back against the ongoing Mar-a-Lago documents case.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Tuesday he had not heard calls to defund the FBI within the House Republican Conference. But he expressed support for eliminating funding for a new FBI building headquarters in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.

“I understand the FBI loves to have a big new palace or something, but I don't think that's what the taxpayers want,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy, though, expressed support for Jordan’s moves to probe Smith.

“We have an oversight role,” McCarthy said.

Earlier this month, Jordan requested that the DOJ provide more information about how Smith was appointed to the Special Counsel role and for information related to the August 2022 search warrant execution at Mar-a-Lago. Jordan cited testimony from a former FBI agent, who told the committee’s Republicans he disagrees with the approach to the raid.

McCarthy referenced that testimony while defending Congress’s oversight role and arguing President Biden was unfairly treated much better than Trump when classified documents were found in his garage.

“What's concerning to me that now raises a whole new question — was even the same way they handled this from the very beginning, not equal justice, not equal procedure?” McCarthy said.  “Because it's not me saying this. This is now the former — now retired, just recently — director of the local FBI office questioning the way they would handle this. And this was Jack Smith overriding them.”

The Department of Justice declined to fulfill Jordan’s document production and information requests.

“Protecting the confidentiality of non-public information regarding investigations and prosecutions preserves the American people’s confidence in the evenhanded administration of justice by guarding against the appearance of political pressure or other improper attempts to influence Department decisions,” Assistant Attorney General Carlos Felipe Uriarte said in a letter to Jordan on Friday, Politico reported.

Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 counts on Tuesday related to allegations that he violated the Espionage Act and obstructed justice by taking classified records with him after his presidency and then refusing to return them. 

The backlash against Smith amid the Trump indictment adds to a longtime distrust of the FBI and DOJ among Republicans that grew out of Trump’s presidential rise and special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into links between Russia and the Trump campaign.

Even before the latest Trump indictment, many Republicans had been interested in cutting back on funding to the FBI and DOJ over alleged political bias.

“Members have their concerns because we do see a weaponization of the DOJ. And so why would we fund a Department of Justice to a certain level, when what they're going to do is use that money to do political targeting?” Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) said.

Greene brought up the possibility of cutting some FBI and DOJ funding in a meeting with a group of lawmakers that included hard-line conservatives, appropriators, and other ideological corners of the conference about government funding. The meeting followed a group of conservative members shutting down floor action in part due to anger about spending caps outlined in the debt limit compromise bill signed into law earlier this month.

Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), a House Appropriations subcommittee chairman, came out of the meeting saying that there is “a lot of chatter” about rescinding funding for a new FBI headquarters. 

“That's in play right now,” he added.

But Womack was skeptical about the prospects of eliminating any more FBI or DOJ funding.

“We got some members in districts where they like their FBI, they like their federal programs,” Womack said. “I think we have to be careful that we don't get mad at the administration and take it out on the rank and file.”

And one hard-line conservative Republican in the meeting pumped the brakes on calls to defund the DOJ.

“I was in DOJ for 15 years, and I made the point that DOJ includes the Bureau of Prisons, includes DEA — includes all kinds of agencies that are really important in what we value,” Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) said. “And so we should be careful in how we describe that.”