As should surprise absolutely no one, House Republicans—who never shied away from a Clinton scandal (real or imagined) to investigate—have no appetite for investigating the web of conflicts of interest surrounding Trump. But that doesn’t mean they’ve lost their interest in investigations.
Today, the House voted 234 to 181 to double the spending on its select committee investigating Planned Parenthood and abortion providers’ handling of fetal tissue, adding an extra $800,000.
Democrats have rightly accused Republicans of leading a shameful and shameless witch hunt—based on doctored videos—in order to demonize Planned Parenthood and intimidate medical researchers. accused Republicans on the panel of trying to intimidate medical researchers who use fetal tissue in work such as developing vaccines.
Steny Hoyer, the Democratic whip, encouraged members to vote against the resolution:
Despite the fact that the Select Panel has yet to produce a single shred of evidence of wrongdoing, House Republicans have continued this partisan witch-hunt, which is clearly another Republican assault on women’s health care and Planned Parenthood.
For over 100 years, Planned Parenthood has provided critical and potentially life-saving services to Americans all across the country. Nearly 2.7 million men and women use Planned Parenthood or their affiliates annually. The organization provides essential services such as providing birth control, breast and cervical cancer screenings, and sexually transmitted disease and HIV screenings. In one-fifth of the counties throughout the United States in which Planned Parenthood operates, they are the sole women's reproductive health clinic serving low-income women.
This was echoed by Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), the top Democrat on the investigation panel:
This panel and its investigation are a disgrace to this House of Representatives...Instead of providing more funding for this divisive and dangerous inquisition, Congress should shut down this panel and put an end to its shameful proceedings.
The vote was largely party line, with two Democrats and two Republicans switching sides. Dan Lipinski (IL-03) and Collin Peterson (MN-07) voted with the Republicans. Richard Hanna (NY-22) and Jim Sensenbrenner (WI-05) voted with the Democrats.