Amash splits with Republicans, votes to authorize subpoena for Kellyanne Conway

GOP Rep. Justin Amash (Mich.) broke with House Republicans on Wednesday by voting to authorize a subpoena for Kellyanne Conway, saying lawmakers should hear from the White House counselor about her response to allegations that she repeatedly violated the Hatch Act.

The House Oversight and Reform Committee voted 25-16 to compel Conway’s testimony after she did not appear voluntarily at a hearing focused on her repeated alleged violations of the law, which bars federal officials from using their position to influence elections.

Amash was the only Republican to join Democrats in voting to approve the subpoena. The Michigan Republican, a vocal critic of President Trump, had drawn the ire of the White House last month after calling for the president’s impeachment.{mosads}

“With respect to the vote, the point is not whether she is violating the Hatch Act or not, it is whether she should comply with the subpoena,” Amash told reporters leaving the committee room.

“But we should have brought her in and had an opportunity to ask her about the Hatch Act and to make her case for why she thinks she is complying with it,” he added.

Earlier this month, the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) sent a report to President Trump that said Conway repeatedly violated the Hatch Act by discussing Democratic presidential candidates while appearing as a White House official for television interviews.

And when Democrats sought to hear from the top staffer, the White House intervened, blocking Conway from appearing for public testimony on Wednesday and citing a “long-standing precedent” in which presidential administrations decline requests to have presidential advisers give congressional testimony.

The vote to issue a subpoena for Conway came after roughly 30 minutes of arguments over the validity of OSC findings and amid a broader battle between the White House and House Democrats, who are conducting sprawling oversight investigations into the administration.

Amash has repeatedly split with the GOP on various issues and last month he also doubled down on his claim that Trump should be impeached for obstruction of justice, after he read special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.

The OSC and Mueller’s office are separate.

Amash’s outspokenness has stunned party leaders and stoked the ire of the president, who hit back by calling him a “loser.”

While leaving the committee room on Wednesday, Amash also broadly hit both parties for taking a different stance when they are in the minority.

“I think both parties when they get into the minority take a different position. It is pretty typical of Washington to have double standards. I don’t say it is one party. I think all parties do that,” Amash said.