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Media Resource: Meet the MAGA Committee Chairs Driving the Extremist House Agenda

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Now that the House of Representatives has selected a Speaker, MAGA leaders running the House steering committee have named the new chairs for key House committees including Judiciary, Oversight, Budget, and more. Several of these chairs, including Jim Jordan, James Comer, and Virginia Foxx, were highlighted in the MAGA Guidebook released by the House Accountability War Room last week as a result of their extreme positions.

Learn more about the records of the new MAGA chairs: 

Jim Jordan – Chair of the House Judiciary Committee

  • Refused To Comply With Own Subpoena: Jordan refused to comply with a subpoena issued by the January 6th Committee over his calls and communications with Trump on and before Jan. 6.

  • Election Denier: Jordan is an election denier who endorsed MAGA conspiracy theories, even encouraging fellow lawmakers to object to certification on Jan. 6, calling for a “special counsel” to investigate so-called voter fraud, and meeting with a group of Trump loyalists in the White House on Dec. 21 to coordinate plans to prevent Congress from certifying the election results.

  • Hid Trump Records: Jordan voted to hide records concerning foreign government investments with President Trump, Ivanka Trump, and the Trump Organization.

  • Founded Freedom Caucus: Jordan co-founded the House Freedom Caucus, which today includes MAGA extremists like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert.

  • Abortion Bans Proponent: Jordan has repeatedly co-sponsored national abortion bans, including a bill with no exceptions for rape or incest. He also co-sponsored a “fetal personhood” bill that would make abortion murder and could impact contraception access.

  • MAGA Ringleader: MAGA extremist Matt Gaetz called Jordan the “spiritual and intellectual leader” of the GOP conference.

Learn more on p. 68-69 of the MAGA Guidebook

James Comer – Chair of the House Oversight Committee

  • Abortion Ban Proponent: Comer co-sponsored a national abortion ban that could have imprisoned doctors and tried to defund the abortion clinic that he allegedly drove his college girlfriend to and from.

    • He also co-sponsored a “fetal personhood” bill that would make abortion murder and could impact contraception access.

  • Hid Trump Records: Comer opposed issuing subpoenas, obtaining documents, and trying to get testimony to conduct legitimate oversight of the corruption during the Trump Administration. He also swept multiple Trump family scandals under the rug and took no action when:

    • Former White House Senior Advisor Jared Kushner’s family business received millions in Saudi funding.

    • Ivanka Trump received three lucrative trademark approvals in China on the same day she and President Trump met with the President of China.

    • Comer was also silent at Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump making up to $640 million while in the White House.

  • Election Denier: Comer pushed bogus accusations of voter fraud and election integrity in the 2020 election. After the 2020 presidential election. Comer sent a letter requesting hearings on the “integrity” of the election and examining so-called allegations of “irregularities and improprieties.”

  • Condones Political Violence: After the violent Insurrection on January 6th, Comer said Trump was speaking “figuratively” at the rally that helped incite the violence. Comer later called attempts to investigate the insurrection a “political stunt,” “a big show,” and “illegitimate.” He even tried to deflect blame, signing a letter implying that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was responsible.

  • MTG Apologist: Comer advocated for MAGA extremist Marjorie Taylor Greene to join the House Oversight Committee.

Learn more on p. 70-71 of the MAGA Guidebook

Jason Smith – Chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means 

  • Supports Cutting Social Security/Medicare: Smith is a member of the committee proposing huge cuts to Social Security and Medicare. He also supports budgets that the AARP said: “likely harm Social Security and Medicare, subjecting both programs to potentially deep cuts.”

    • Smith on overhauling Medicare: “We’re going to have a lot of hearings on this.”

    • Smith: “The debt limit is clearly one of those tools that Republicans … will use.”

  • Election Denier: Smith voted to overturn the election results in 2020. He also signed his name to an amicus brief to the Supreme Court calling on them to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

    • Smith encouraged other Members of Congress to vote to overturn the election results, saying, “The reported results of this past November’s presidential election don’t even pass the most basic eye test.”

  • Opposed Bipartisan Jan 6 Commission: Smith voted against creating an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

    • Smith called the January 6 Select Committee a “sham” that was “designed to attack President Trump.”

  • Abortion Ban Proponent: Smith co-sponsored a national abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest. He also co-sponsored a “fetal personhood” bill that would make abortion murder and could impact contraception access.

  • Opposes Right to Contraception: Smith voted against the right to contraception, including birth control and condoms.

Jodey Arrington – Chair of the House Budget Committee

  • Supports Cutting Social Security/Medicare: Arrington is a member of the committee proposing huge cuts to Social Security and Medicare. He also supports budgets that the AARP said: “likely harm Social Security and Medicare, subjecting both programs to potentially deep cuts.”

  • Election Denier: Arrington voted to overturn the election results in 2020. He also signed his name to an amicus brief to the Supreme Court calling on them to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

    • In November 2020, Arrington said that it “would be unwise to accept any outcome before recounts are final and it has been examined by the courts and determined to be fair and accurate.” In January 2021, after all of the recounts were final and the courts determined the election to be fair and accurate, Arrington said that he would still “object to certifying votes from states I believe clearly violated the Constitution.”

  • Opposed Bipartisan Jan 6 Commission: Arrington voted against creating an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

  • Abortion Ban Proponent: Arrington co-sponsored a national abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest. He also co-sponsored a “fetal personhood” bill that would make abortion murder and could impact contraception access.

    • Arrington said that he would propose federal legislation equivalent to Texas’s so-called Heartbeat Bill, which bans abortion after just six weeks of pregnancy – before many women even know that they are pregnant.

  • Refused to Condemn QAnon: Arrington was one of just 18 members of the House who voted against a resolution to condemn QAnon after adherents of the conspiracy theory sent death threats to Democratic Members of Congress.

  • Voted Against Compensating 9/11 Victims: Arrington was one of just 12 members of the House to vote against the reauthorization of the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund in 2020.

  • Supports SNAP Requirements That Leave Kids Hungry: In a 2017 congressional hearing, Arrington quoted the Bible to push for more strict work requirements for beneficiaries of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

    • Washington Post: “GOP lawmaker: The Bible says ‘if a man will not work, he shall not eat.’”

Mark Green – Chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security

  • Freedom Caucus Member: Green is a member of the extremist House Freedom Caucus, which includes MAGA extremists like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert.

  • Supports Revenge-Motivated Investigations: Green called for Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas to resign.

  • Supports Border Wall: He has also introduced legislation to build a border wall.

  • History of Bigoted Remarks: In April 2017, Green was nominated by Donald Trump to serve as Secretary of the Army, but less than one month later Green withdrew his nomination after his history of bigoted remarks was revealed.

    • Green compared transgender people to ISIS militants.

    • Green said that being “transgender is a disease.”

    • Green was a lead sponsor of legislation to make it easier for businesses to discriminate against the LGBTQ community.

    • Green said he would not tolerate students learning about Muslim beliefs and religious practices. Green said we must “take a stand on the indoctrination of Islam in our public schools.”

  • Supports Cutting Social Security/Medicare: Green is a member of the committee proposing huge cuts to Social Security and Medicare. He also supports budgets that the AARP said: “likely harm Social Security and Medicare, subjecting both programs to potentially deep cuts.”

  • Election Denier: Green voted to overturn the election results in 2020. He also signed his name to an amicus brief to the Supreme Court calling on them to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

  • Abortion Ban Proponent: Green has repeatedly co-sponsored national abortion bans, including a bill with no exceptions for rape or incest. He also co-sponsored a “fetal personhood” bill that would make abortion murder and could impact contraception access.

  • Lied About Reason for Missing Votes: In 2021, Green skipped congressional votes and casted his vote by proxy “due to the ongoing public health emergency,” but he was really just attending the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando.

  • Denies Science: Green is a self-identified creationist and does not believe in evolution.

Virginia Foxx – Chair of the House Committee on Education & the Workforce

  • Opposes Existence of Dept. of Ed: Foxx wants to eliminate the Department of Education.

    • Foxx: “If the Lord put me in charge, I would do it.’’

    • Foxx: “I’d get rid of the Department of Education if I could.”

  • Shill for For-Profit Colleges: Foxx has consistently shilled for predatory for-profit colleges, trashed students with debt.

    • Foxx: “I have very little tolerance for people who tell me that they graduate with $200,000 of debt or even $80,000 of debt because there’s no reason for that. We live in an opportunity society and people are forgetting that.”

      • Foxx paid $87.50 in tuition in 1961.

    • Open Secrets: “For-Profit Education Industry Finances Virginia Foxx.”

    • Inside Higher Ed: Foxx “used a Holocaust reference to suggest that private college leaders should have stood up to the Obama administration’s regulation of for-profit colleges.”

    • Charlotte Observer: “Defending for-profit schools paid dividends for Carolina lawmakers.”

  • Opposes Relief for Student Debt: Foxx will continue to obstruct Biden’s student loan forgiveness policy.

    • She supported a lawsuit to block Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan.

    • Foxx: “Biden will say and do anything to appease his radical progressive base, even if it means bankrupting our country and kneecapping taxpayers in the midst of an inflation crisis. This is a slap in the face to those who never went to college, as well as borrowers who upheld their responsibility to taxpayers and paid back their loans.”

    • Foxx and Rep. James Comer announced an investigation into whether Biden Admin officials working on the student loan forgiveness policy stood to benefit from it financially.

  • Supports Cutting Social Security/Medicare: Foxx is a member of the committee proposing huge cuts to Social Security and Medicare. She also supports budgets that the AARP said: “likely harm Social Security and Medicare, subjecting both programs to potentially deep cuts.”

  • Election Denier: Foxx voted to overturn the election results in 2020. She also signed her name to an amicus brief to the Supreme Court calling on them to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

  • Abortion Ban Proponent: Foxx supports a national abortion ban, even co-sponsoring a 15-week national abortion ban that could punish doctors for up to five years in prison if they violated the law. Fox also co-sponsored a “fetal personhood” bill that would make abortion murder and could impact contraception access.

Learn more on p. 72-73 of the MAGA Guidebook

For questions or additional commentary, please contact [email protected]. 

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