Politics

Chaka Fattah calls Fast and Furious DOJ pay cut ‘political,’ fails to take action

Matthew Boyle Investigative Reporter
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Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Chaka Fattah was the only Democrat who verbally criticized South Carolina Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy’s measure to cut Department of Justice officials’ paychecks that passed the House by voice vote — a sign of overwhelming support — on Tuesday night.

“I think that anyone in our country knows that this is a political matter, and that what we need to do is do our actual work here,” said Fattah, according to The Hill. “And our work here is to deal with appropriations to figure out what the resources are that the Department of Justice needs to do its work.”

Fattah, or any other House Democrat, could have requested a recorded vote instead of a voice vote.

His spokeswoman, Debra Anderson, did not answer when The Daily Caller asked to explain why Fattah claimed the Gowdy measure was politically motivated but failed to take action that would have forced members to choose sides.

Anderson also failed to answer how Fattah thinks Operation Fast and Furious is a politically partisan issue, given that at least one Democrat supports House oversight committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa’s push to enforce a controversy-laden subpoena served in October on Attorney General Eric Holder.

On Tuesday, Indiana Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly threw his support behind Issa’s push to enforce the subpoena.

Holder has so far failed to comply with all 22 categories of the subpoena, which require him to provide Congress with documents relating to Operation Fast and Furious, the failed gunwalking program that put firearms in the hands of Mexican drug cartels. Holder has provided no documents related to 13 of those categories and is far from compliant with the others.

Fattah’s spokeswoman declined to answer a question about whether Fattah believes Holder should come into compliance with the subpoena. She likewise wouldn’t say if Fattah believes it’s acceptable for the executive branch of a presidential administration, whether Democratic or Republican, to fail to comply with a congressional subpoena.

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