Former President Donald Trump, in his comments to Fox News on the subject of AG Garland’s recent announcement that a Special Counsel was being investigated to look into him and his conduct on January 6th, demanded that Republicans fight back.
Speaking on that, he highlighted DOJ insouciance towards Hunter and called on the Republican Party and American people to not accept the double standard or investigation, saying:
“Hunter Biden is a criminal many times over and nothing happens to him. Joe Biden is a criminal many times over — and nothing happens to them.
“It is unfair to the country, to the Republican Party, and I don’t think people should accept it. I am not going to accept it. The Republican Party has to stand up and fight.”
Well, somewhat surprisingly, it looks the Republican Party might actually fight back against the Biden regime.
News on that comes from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who tweeted that the Speaker of the House, who at this point is likely to be Kevin McCarthy, would use his power under the Holman Rule to defund the Special Counsel. In her words:
Holman Rule.
Look it up!
@GOPLeader
is going to put it in place.That means no money for Garland’s politically weaponized Special Counsel.
Don’t promise too many jobs!
Whoops defunded.
The Holman Rule is one that was enacted in 1876, rescinded under Reagan in 1983, and then brought back in a limited way by the Republican-controlled legislature in January of 2017, then rescinded again by the Democrats in 2019.
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The limited, 2017 version of the rule allows the legislature to pass amendments to appropriations legislation if those amendments either fire or reduce the salary of specific employees of the federal government or cut funding to a specific program.
Specifically, it provides that “any provision or amendment … that retrenches expenditures by—(1) the reduction of amounts of money in the bill; (2) the reduction of the number and salary of the officers of the United States; or (3) the reduction of the compensation of any person paid out of the Treasury of the United States.”
So, theoretically, the GOP-controlled House of Representatives could bring back the Holman Rule, likely the 2017 version approved by that Congress, and then use it as justification and a legal basis for either firing or eliminating the salary of the Special Counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, Jack Smith.
While that would involve getting a controversial law passed, something that seems difficult for any current Congress, it is theoretically a route by which the Republicans could use their newly won Congressional power to defend Trump and win favor with him and his base of hardcore support.
AG Merrick Garland, announcing the Special Counsel investigation, said:
“The Department of Justice has long recognized that in certain extraordinary cases it is in the public interest to appoint a special prosecutor to independently manage an investigation and prosecution.
“Based on recent developments, including the former president’s announcement that he is a candidate for president in the next election and the sitting president’s stated intention to be a candidate as well, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint a special counsel.“