In a mid-week press conference, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) condemned the direction the House has taken with the Republican Party in control, deeming the GOP-led chamber presently a “do-nothing Congress.”
Lieu, the vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus, was speaking after an election victory in New York by Democratic candidate Tom Suozzi, who was thereby set to replace expelled ex-Congressman George Santos, a Republican. Lieu also serves at present on the House Judiciary Committee.
“What are Republicans focused on? Stupid stuff like baseless impeachments with no evidence, stopping a national security package that’s going to improve America’s national security and doing things that no one in America really wants them to do, such as holding a hearing on UFOs,” Lieu said. “That’s why Tom Suozzi flipped a New York special election district last night. The American people want a change. They want a Congress that actually does something. This is a completely do-nothing Congress in the hands of the Republicans.”
The national security proposals that Lieu referenced include a Senate-passed deal setting up new aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. Amid clamoring from House GOP leadership for border action, that deal has been delayed.
Republicans themselves previously rejected a bipartisan deal proposed in the Senate that linked foreign aid and border changes, including new powers for the federal government to close vast portions of the southern border in periods of particularly numerous crossings. House Republicans have pushed instead for policies including a revival of the “remain in Mexico” policy of the Trump era, which forced asylum-seekers to wait outside the U.S. in potential danger while their cases were processed.
The security assistance that the U.S. has already provided Ukraine has economically benefited the United States itself in spurring manufacturing, some have said. The economic boosts have been both direct and indirect, ranging from manufacturing some items directly provided to Ukraine to U.S. interests setting up arms deals with allies providing these nations with updated equipment as they’ve produced their own weapons deliveries for Ukraine.
