A hundred days into a MAGA-controlled House, the threat to democracy is stronger than ever

As we mark 100 days of MAGA control of the U.S. House of Representatives this week, one thing is absolutely clear: Speaker Kevin McCarthy (D-Calif.), and the extreme members he has put in positions of power, appear focused on undermining our democracy, condoning political violence and opposing the rule of law in an effort to advance their extreme agenda. They call convicted criminals who assaulted the police to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power “patriots.” They are also doing everything in their power to support former President Donald Trump and giving conspiracy theorists a microphone in congressional hearings. Instead of solving the problems that keep Americans up at night, MAGA Republicans in Congress and across the country are still pandering to a fringe minority and doing everything in their power to push their extreme agenda — including eroding our rights.

Supporting the violence and insurrection of Jan. 6th

In the House of Representatives, MAGA Republicans are giving aid and comfort to insurrectionists in numerous, inappropriate ways. In March, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) led a cohort of her colleagues to the D.C. jail to visit Jan. 6 defendants. These are people who have been charged, and in some cases, convicted of launching a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol at­ the behest of a president who knew he lost his election and lied about it.

Greene and her MAGA Republican colleagues are still vocal defenders of Trump and voted against certifying the lawful 2020 election, with some asking for preemptive pardons for their role in attempting to overturn the legitimate results.

Republicans have also launched an investigation into the bipartisan, facts-based House January 6th Select Committee. A congressman who reportedly gave a tour of the Capitol the day before the violent attack to an alleged rioter is leading one of these investigations.

Additionally, McCarthy allowed Fox News Host Tucker Carlson exclusive access to more than 40,000 hours of surveillance footage of the insurrection, which Tucker predictably used to misrepresent the event. This is despite Fox News executives admitting the network spread false claims about the 2020 election in the lead-up to Jan. 6.

The January 6th Select Committee was composed of both Democrats and Republicans, and featured testimony primarily from Republicans and those in Trump’s own inner White House circle. Rehashing their findings seems to be an attempt to stop us from acknowledging what we saw with our own eyes: a violent attack at the urging “to fight like hell” from a man who refused to publicly admit he lost.

Undermining the rule of law

House Republican leaders, including McCarthy and Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and James Comer (R-Ky.)have blatantly threatened independent prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, to Georgia’s Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, to Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith, and other law enforcement officers conducting investigations into Trump’s numerous alleged violations. While they accuse the Biden administration of “weaponizing” the government, this behavior suggests they are the ones actually using their powers in an attempt to intimidate independent investigators into abandoning their vital work. Comer and Jordan have gone so far as to actually threaten to defund the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for what looks like purely political reasons.

Promoting conspiracy theorists in their hearings

House Republicans have called witnesses who have called into question the efficacy of vaccines, questioned the legitimacy of President Biden’s win in the 2020 election, and spouted lies that went unchallenged by Republican members. One witness published a book that Democrats flagged as “ racist beliefs” — and it was enthusiastically received by the KKK. Jordan based an entire committee around so-called whistleblowers who provided no evidence of wrongdoing, appear to have lied about the insurrection at the Capitol, and were paid by a Trump ally.

It’s been said many times since Trump took office, but in these unprecedented times, it merits saying again: No one is above the law, not even a former president. The threats against prosecutors for simply attempting to do their jobs are anti-democratic and fundamentally un-American.

For more than six years, the Not Above the Law Coalition has worked to make sure that the rule of law is upheld. And this week at the 100-day mark of this Congress, this work is more needed than ever. 

As the public rejects their extreme agenda, MAGA is apparently responding by increasing the intensity of their campaign against democracy. They don’t seem to care about governing,only gaining power apparently in order to take away our fundamental rights, like the right to get an abortion or the right of the American people to fairly decide who leads us.

Americans must show them we will not stand for their assault of our freedoms, their rejection of the rule of law, or their attempted dismantling of democracy. We will let independent prosecutions take their rightful course, and we will stand together to defend the rule of law.

Lisa Gilbert is Public Citizen’s executive vice president and co-lead of the Not Above The Law Coalition.

Leslie Dach is the former co-chair of Defend Democracy Project and a senior adviser to the Congressional Integrity Project.