U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman will serve on a body that will look into the alleged use of the federal government for political purposes, the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.
“It is an honor to be appointed to this critical committee,” Hageman said in a Tuesday press release. “A key responsibility of Congress is oversight, so this is rightfully something that we must do.”
Republican members of the GOP-majority House have vowed to look into the use of the FBI and Department of Justice in various political matters in recent years.
The subcommittee, led by Republican Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio, will focus on the actions of the FBI, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, Centers for Disease Control, and other agencies.
It will also investigate matters related to the collection, analysis, dissemination, and use of information on U.S. citizens by executive branch agencies, including whether such efforts are illegal, unconstitutional, or otherwise unethical. The subcommittee will have the power to issue subpoenas to officials within federal agencies and conduct in-depth hearings.
“This committee will examine why there seems to be a double standard for enforcing rules against some of us, but not against others,” Hageman said. “It will work to ensure that draconian lockdowns are never again enacted.”
All nine Republicans on the committee have been named, while the six Democrats have not been determined yet by the Speaker of the House Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in consultation with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
Hageman’s Thoughts
During her campaign last summer, Hageman repeatedly spoke out against Anthony Fauci, who until recently served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and was the chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden from 2021 to 2022. Fauci was one of the leading voices on the topic of the COVID-19 pandemic and its severity. Hageman vowed to investigate him once she was in office.
She also told Cowboy State Daily last spring that she will look to federal legislation to limit viewpoint discrimination in tech giants. She said this legislation could be the answer to future censorship by Twitter and other social media companies.
In December 2022, Jordan wrote a letter to five of the largest tech companies, demanding they hand over correspondence between the Biden administration and their companies.
In October, Hageman expressed outrage that researchers from a North Dakota university were looking at her Twitter posts as part of a study of “toxic language” on the platform.
Hageman said the subcommittee will aim to figure out to what degree the federal government has conspired with large social media corporations “to silence our free speech and suppress factual information.”
It will also examine the practice of Internal Revenue Service audits.
“We owe it to the American people to get answers and ensure partisan politics are kept out of these agencies,” she said.
Hageman described the FBI’s August raid on former President Donald Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago as a “partisan witch hunt,” the same phrase she used to describe the Jan. 6 Committee hearings, which she also called a “kangaroo court.”
“When Republicans take back the House, we will conduct immediate oversight of this department, follow the facts, and leave no stone unturned,” said the Speaker of the House Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., after the Mar-a-lago raid.
Other Committees
Hageman was also named to the Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Natural Resources.
The Committee on Natural Resources is of particular importance to Wyoming. It considers bills about the National Parks system and other public lands, as well as the nation’s energy, mineral and water resources.
The committee also conducts oversight of the Interior, Agriculture and Commerce departments. Wyoming has one of the highest percentages of public land and is home to Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.
Former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney served on the Natural Resources Committee in her second term but not on Judiciary.
During her congressional campaign, Hageman said she was interested in a post on the House Oversight and Reform Committee, but this position was not granted.
