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The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee was sworn into his new leadership role earlier this week by former Vice President Kamala Harris, one of the key ex-White House officials the panel’s chair is interested in hearing from in its probe of President Joe Biden.
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., was elected to serve as ranking member of the committee in June, after the death of former ranking member Gerry Connolly, D-Va.
Harris, who swore Garcia in as mayor of Long Beach in 2014 when she was California’s attorney general, reprised that role Wednesday in a ceremonial swearing-in when Garcia took over his new Oversight role.
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It happened as House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., again did not rule out bringing Harris in before his committee as he investigates whether former President Joe Biden’s top aides conspired to hide signs of mental decline in the ex-commander in chief.
“I think that it would be helpful to hear from Kamala Harris,” Comer told Fox News Digital Thursday.
“And I think that, you know, if I were her, wanted to have a political future, I would want to set the record straight on a lot of this stuff. Because it’s going to haunt her her entire political career, because nobody thinks that Joe Biden was calling the shots in the end.”
The House Oversight Committee’s ranking member has traditionally served as a top foil to the party in power, coordinating their party’s response to investigations led by the panel’s majority.
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Among House Oversight Republicans’ top priorities right now is the probe into Biden.
A Republican member of the panel, Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., previously called for Harris to be subpoenaed, but Comer said it was still up in the air.
“We haven’t decided whether we’re going to issue the subpoena or not, but certainly she’s welcome to come to the committee,” Comer said.
Garcia said Wednesday that he was “honored” to be sworn in by Harris, who he said “has always fought for our country and shown us what true leadership looks like.”
“I’m especially grateful to have been able to share this moment with Vice President Harris, and I’m ready to get to work to hold Donald Trump and his administration accountable for their corruption and abuses of power. We will deliver real results for the American people,” Garcia said in a statement without mentioning Comer’s Biden probe.
He was elected to the ranking member role via an internal House Democratic Caucus vote, besting three other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas. Crockett notably dropped out of the race after failing to win Democratic leaders’ recommendation for the job.
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