A Gigantic Waste of Time
Governor JB Pritzker speaks in front of the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee. (Photo: AP)
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OPINION
If you’re an optimist at heart, you may have gone into Thursday’s House Oversight & Reform Committee hoping for a real discussion about our immigration system and looking for ways to repair it.
After watching Thursday’s fiasco, you surely came out as cynical as Patrick Bateman.
Governor JB Pritzker, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz were at the witness table for nearly eight hours as Republican members shouted at them and Democratic members stuck to anti-Trump talking points and literally nothing was accomplished.
Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (D-Chicago) hit the nail on the head, referring to the “deeply unserious nature of this hearing.”
While the most unserious in the hearing were Republican members tied to the House Freedom Caucus, like Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene of Georga, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert of Colorado, and Congressman Brandon Gill of Texas, who quickly devolved from immigration statements to attacking Pritzker on transgender bathroom access and groups that received state grants.
Most of the “questioning,” where Congresswoman Mary Miller (R-Hindsboro) and Congressman Darin LaHood (R-Peoria) were among the worst offenders, found Republicans spending their time essentially grandstanding and, in some cases, shouting at Pritzker and the other witnesses.
Miller’s badgering visibly annoyed Pritzker.
"Congresswoman Miller, I am not going to be lectured to by somebody who extolled the virtues of Adolf Hitler," Pritzker shot back, referring to comments made at a rally in 2021 where Miller claimed Hitler was “right” about a comment about indoctrinating youth.
LaHood also spent his time lecturing Pritzker leaving few opportunities for Pritzker to interject to LaHood’s soliloquy.
“Instead of working with federal law enforcement to remove dangerous individuals from our streets in Chicago and across Illinois, you’re creating bureaucratic roadblocks and political cover,” LaHood charged.
Pritzker said LaHood and the federal government should prioritize border security.
“Do your job. Do your job, congressman,” Pritzker said.
It’s not like JB Pritzker was the hero of this hearing, either. When given the opportunity to respond from Republicans (which, admittedly, was rare), Pritzker was vague, elusive, and very rarely answered questions directly.
Some Democrats, like “squad” member Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, veered off topic as well, attempting to get Pritzker, who is Jewish, to seemingly give his support to Hamas, which Pritzker called a “terrorist organization.” Good on him.
Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Schaumburg) spent most of his time railing on the Republican “big, beautiful bill” instead of questioning the witnesses on immigration.
As the day wore on, Pritzker became more irritated by Republican attacks and had a pointed exchange with Boebert, who claimed protests and violence in Los Angeles are an “insurrection.”
“I find it hard to believe that you’re lecturing us about peaceful protest,” Pritzker said. “Look at what happened on Jan. 6. You were at the Capitol. You want to talk about an absolute insurrection.”
“Yeah, that didn’t happen here,” Boebert said, clearly lying about the Jan. 6, 2021 riots.
Washington is a deeply unserious place.
