Judiciary Committee ranking member Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) announced Thursday that committee Democrats would not attend an official border hearing next week in Arizona, misleadingly claiming “there was no consultation” with them about it.
Nadler, along with Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), who serves as ranking member on the Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee, said in a statement:
Next week, Judiciary Republicans will hold their second stunt hearing on border security. Despite the importance of this issue, there was no consultation with Judiciary Democrats, many of whom have already committed attending other bipartisan congressional delegation trips.The Democrats’ claim of a lack of “consultation” comes after committee chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) announced to Nadler and the other Democrats the dates of the hearing and that it would take place at the border on February 1, three weeks ahead of the scheduled event and two weeks earlier than House rules require.
Republicans on the committee were quick to call Nadler and Jayapal’s statement “fake news” and shared a clip of Jordan announcing the hearing on social media.The Republicans also stated that they had been communicating with Democrats for “weeks” about the trip and that Democrats were “just scared to face the harsh realities of the #BidenBorderCrisis.
