House pushes back vote on holding Clinton IT aide in contempt

The House’s vote on holding the former State Department staffer responsible for setting up Hillary Clinton’s private email server in contempt of Congress will wait until after the elections.

{mosads}Aides said Wednesday that a vote to hold Bryan Pagliano in contempt of Congress is no longer expected before the House leaves Capitol Hill for the pre-election recess.

The House is expected to adjourn as soon as Wednesday night to let members return to their districts to campaign for reelection. Neither the House nor Senate are scheduled to return until the week after Election Day.

Lawmakers were originally slated to vote Thursday on a resolution to hold Pagliano in contempt for declining to appear at a House Oversight Committee hearing on Clinton’s server earlier this month despite a subpoena demanding his presence. 

Pagliano’s lawyers maintained to the panel in a letter that he has already asserted his Fifth Amendment rights before the House Select Committee on Benghazi and shouldn’t have to do it again.

The decision to scrap the contempt vote until after the election will deprive House Republicans of an opportunity to use the legislative tools at their disposal to highlight an issue that has proved to be a political liability for Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee.

The initial plans to hold a Thursday vote would have come just over a month before voters head to the polls on Nov. 8.

Instead, a vote could now come after the presidential election has already been decided.

Members of the House and Senate are eager to return home to campaign after a deal was struck late Tuesday night to avert a government shutdown on Saturday.

Democrats had balked at a spending bill that didn’t include federal assistance to help the residents of Flint, Mich., and other communities suffering from lead-contaminated drinking water.

But House GOP leaders made a deal with Democrats late Tuesday night to allow an amendment to a water infrastructure bill that would set aside aid for Flint, paving the way for the spending bill to pass quickly.