House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have stepped into the ring together, announcing a bipartisan task force to investigate the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. The House is set to vote on this plan this week, which sounds like a welcome distraction from typical Congressional gridlock. Finally, something that unites both parties – someone wanting to take down Trump.
Johnson had hinted at this initiative last week, and now it’s official with Jeffries on board, who is likely just happy to be part of a headline that doesn’t involve yet another squabble about the January 6th incident. The leaders emphasized that the security failures that permitted this assassination attempt are shocking. Given the ongoing debates about how to secure the capital and its attendees, bipartisan support seems rather unexpected, but perhaps both parties are ready to hold someone accountable—though who knows what that actually looks like in Washington.
This new task force will comprise seven Republicans and six Democrats. A slight tweak in the numbers since the original proposal suggested an even dozen. Perhaps the negotiations were a battle to ensure that there were as few Democrats as possible in the mix—a reasonable request, considering the partisan circus that typically ensues. Nevertheless, the House is gearing up to approve this task force, which looks to be a refreshing change from the usual partisan bickering over who gets to point fingers at whom.
The task force’s powers are nothing to scoff at; they’ll have subpoena authority and a mandate to dig into the nitty-gritty of the incident that transpired on July 13. Johnson and Jeffries noted that their goal is to find the facts and ensure that such security failures never happen again. They may as well have added, “unless it’s a Democrat’s fault,” but that would probably be too spicy for a formal statement.
Johnson, Jeffries announce bipartisan House task force to investigate attempted Trump assassinationhttps://t.co/l3iWVYWPmr pic.twitter.com/AORufl46NR
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) July 23, 2024
The task force must present its final findings by mid-December, forcing them to hustle through existing evidence and, perhaps, the frustrations already felt by various committees. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle faced a chorus of grumbles during a recent hearing about the lack of clarity surrounding the security failures, as lawmakers fidgeted in their seats, likely wondering if more of these hearings would simply lead to more questions without any answers. The Judiciary Committee will also have a hearing soon with FBI Director Christopher Wray, presumably to unearth just how serious of a threat this gunman was and keep the political theater alive.
With multiple committees already working on the investigation, one can only hope this task force won’t end up like so many other bipartisan projects—full of hot air and just enough theatrics to keep the masses mildly entertained. If successful, this could be the model for future investigations, where actual accountability takes precedence over political posturing, and maybe a resolution will come out of Congress without it being another shameful episode of ineffectiveness. But given the track record, one can keep wishing.