House Oversight Republicans threaten to boycott 'quasi-hearings,' say committee not complying with remote business rules

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EXCLUSIVE: Republicans on the House Oversight Committee sent a letter to committee Chairwoman Rep. Carolyn Maloney., D-N.Y., on Wednesday threatening to boycott briefings held by the committee during the coronavirus pandemic, saying they harm "Minority rights" and do not comply with the framework for remote business set up by the House.

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The Republicans in their letter called the briefings, which the committee has held regularly during the coronavirus pandemic, "quasi-hearings" and "fake hearings" as they panned some of the technical glitches and procedural issues they say have plagued them. The Republicans ask Maloney to get back to in-person committee business, but if that isn't possible they say that Maloney could begin holding official virtual hearings according to rules set up by a House resolution that allows proxy voting and remote hearings and other guidelines issued by House Rules Committee Chairman Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.

"If you will not stop the weekly fake hearings and move toward the framework laid out in H. Res. 965 and the accompanying McGovern guidelines, the Republican Members will be forced to consider abstaining from these violative proceedings," the letter reads.

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The House earlier this month okayed a resolution that provides rules for House committees to hold hearings and conduct other business remotely, and for House members to vote in the place of others -- so-called proxy voting. There are also separate guidelines from McGovern that are meant to guide how committees can conduct virtual business in order to keep lawmakers away from D.C. and curb the coronavirus risk. Democrats have generally favored conducting as much remote business as possible during the pandemic in order to protect members, staff and their families from the coronavirus.

House Republicans filed a lawsuit against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Tuesday arguing that the proxy voting measures are unconstitutional, but the Oversight Committee Republicans' letter simply addresses concerns about how their committee is conducting its business.

"For more than two hundred years, the House of Representatives has required Members to participate in proceedings in person—assuring on behalf of the American people that Members exercise their duties with full responsibility, transparency, and accountability," the letter says. "The remote proceedings also compromise the ability of the House and this Committee to serve the American people as it should."

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The House allowed proxy voting, not remote proceedings, in committees until 1995.

Some of the high-profile signatories of the letter include ranking member Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., among 14 others.

The Republicans decry what they say has been a perversion of the purpose of the virtual briefings Maloney has held during the pandemic, saying they have become more than just briefings and should ideally happen in person, or at least be treated as such under guidance the House currently has.

"Gradually—and to the detriment of Minority rights, public transparency, and procedural clarity—these briefings have evolved into quasi-hearings in their structure, tone, and affect. To be clear, at the time of all but the last two of these briefings, remote hearings were not permitted under House Rules," the letter says.

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The letter lists some specific concerns that have come from the briefings, including one briefing on May 8 they say happened with "barely 24 hours notice," Republicans not being allowed to bring in their own "briefer," and technical problems that they say "made it difficult for Committee Members to fully and fairly participate."

Though the Republicans make clear that they have their reservations about the remote hearing rules and the guidelines provided by McGovern, they say Maloney is not following those procedures, which would be preferable to the current "quasi-hearings."

"You must abandon these quasi-hearings and move the Committee into compliance with the McGovern guidelines," the letter reads. "There is a playbook – albeit a murky one – that we must follow at this point."

Fox News' Marisa Schultz and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.