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Republican Scott Perry threatens to eliminate office space for agencies that don’t cooperate with GOP oversight

Mr Perry failed to comply with a congressional subpoena last year

Andrew Feinberg
Thursday 02 March 2023 16:34 GMT
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House Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry on Thursday threatened to eliminate federal office space for agencies if Biden administration officials don’t comply with oversight demands from House Republicans.

Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland, Mr Perry complained that the federal government has been “weaponised” against conservatives — a frequent GOP grievance for which no evidence exists — and suggested federal officials and civil servants responsible for such policies as vaccine mandates should be imprisoned or made to fear for their lives by a “firestorm” of Republican-led oversight by the House of Representatives.

“These leftists, these marxists that have prevailed upon the American people and used this awesome power of the federal government to cow us into fear in our homes, they‘ve got to be put on notice. They‘ve got to be quaking in fear. They‘ve got to be losing weight because they are not eating because they‘re worried they‘re going to end up going to jail for using the awesome powers of the federal government,” he said.

The Pennsylvania congressman, who last year refused to comply with a subpoena from the House January 6 select committee, then threatened to use his own authority to punish entire federal agencies if civil servants or Biden administration appointees fail to fully comply with subpoenas from the GOP majority.

“If they are not interested in showing up, we can say I‘m in charge now of the transportation committee of federal leases. Isn‘t that something?” he said.

“I wonder who‘s leases might be coming up – we are taking a look at the list ... when they go from a big building to that small space on the square, that will be awesome, won‘t it?”

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