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| House Republicans want to delay consideration of D.C. statehood over Jack Evans | House Republicans want to delay consideration of D.C. statehood over Jack Evans |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| D.C. Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), who is set to be expelled from the council over ethical misconduct, has declined a request from House Republicans that he testify on Capitol Hill as Congress considers D.C. statehood. | D.C. Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), who is set to be expelled from the council over ethical misconduct, has declined a request from House Republicans that he testify on Capitol Hill as Congress considers D.C. statehood. |
| Republicans are using the ongoing scandal about Evans — including investigations finding that he used his office to assist his private consulting clients — as a way to cast the District as too corrupt to become the 51st state. | |
| After Evans and other officials refused to testify at a hearing scheduled for Thursday, Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform demanded a delay of the hearing, which is their opportunity to manage a meeting about the statehood bill and a vote on the legislation. | After Evans and other officials refused to testify at a hearing scheduled for Thursday, Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform demanded a delay of the hearing, which is their opportunity to manage a meeting about the statehood bill and a vote on the legislation. |
| “The Committee cannot mark-up H.R. 51 until the Committee fully understands and assesses the nature and extent of D.C. Councilmember’s Evans’s misconduct,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the ranking Republican, wrote in a Wednesday letter to Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), who leads the committee. | “The Committee cannot mark-up H.R. 51 until the Committee fully understands and assesses the nature and extent of D.C. Councilmember’s Evans’s misconduct,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the ranking Republican, wrote in a Wednesday letter to Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), who leads the committee. |
| The panel held a hearing in September on the statehood legislation, when Republicans unsuccessfully attempted to compel Evans’s testimony. | |
| House Republicans tried again this week, also summoning officials from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, where Evans had served on the board until an investigation found that he violated ethics rules. | House Republicans tried again this week, also summoning officials from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, where Evans had served on the board until an investigation found that he violated ethics rules. |
| The transit officials declined to testify as well. | The transit officials declined to testify as well. |
| In a letter dated Monday, Evans said the attempts to have him answer questions from Republican lawmakers were part of a “political agenda” to distract from the merits of statehood. | In a letter dated Monday, Evans said the attempts to have him answer questions from Republican lawmakers were part of a “political agenda” to distract from the merits of statehood. |
| “Using my individual problems as a tool for opponents of D.C. Statehood is a transparent tactic to avoid their real non-meritorious reasons to stand in the way of what should have been done decades ago,” Evans wrote to Maloney. | “Using my individual problems as a tool for opponents of D.C. Statehood is a transparent tactic to avoid their real non-meritorious reasons to stand in the way of what should have been done decades ago,” Evans wrote to Maloney. |
| Metro officials also wrote letters saying they have no “expertise or relevant experience” to provide about statehood legislation. | Metro officials also wrote letters saying they have no “expertise or relevant experience” to provide about statehood legislation. |
| Supporters of D.C. statehood say Republicans are using Evans as a distraction and that the behavior of individual politicians should have no bearing on the enfranchisement of city residents. | Supporters of D.C. statehood say Republicans are using Evans as a distraction and that the behavior of individual politicians should have no bearing on the enfranchisement of city residents. |
| The statehood bill needs to be approved by the oversight committee before it can be considered on the floor of the House, where it is expected to pass because a majority of lawmakers — all of them Democrats — has signed onto the legislation. | The statehood bill needs to be approved by the oversight committee before it can be considered on the floor of the House, where it is expected to pass because a majority of lawmakers — all of them Democrats — has signed onto the legislation. |
| Approval by the House would be the first time statehood legislation has passed a chamber of Congress. | Approval by the House would be the first time statehood legislation has passed a chamber of Congress. |
| But the bill is expected to die in the Republican-controlled Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) opposes statehood for the nation’s capital. | But the bill is expected to die in the Republican-controlled Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) opposes statehood for the nation’s capital. |
| The D.C. Council took the unprecedented step this month of voting to recommend expelling Evans, the city’s longest-serving lawmaker, after probes found that he used his public office to benefit private clients and employers who paid him hundreds of thousands of dollars. | The D.C. Council took the unprecedented step this month of voting to recommend expelling Evans, the city’s longest-serving lawmaker, after probes found that he used his public office to benefit private clients and employers who paid him hundreds of thousands of dollars. |
| Evans has been under federal investigation but has not been charged with a crime. He has denied wrongdoing. | Evans has been under federal investigation but has not been charged with a crime. He has denied wrongdoing. |
| A council hearing, where Evans could defend himself, and an expulsion vote are scheduled for next month. | |
| On Wednesday, Republicans on Capitol Hill cited Evans and the refusal of congressional Democrats to demand that he testify in an effort to criticize impeachment proceedings underway against President Trump. | |
| “It’s rich that on the day Democrats are impeaching the president for allegedly obstructing Congress, they are obstructing Congress by denying the minority a legitimate hearing to examine serious misconduct within the District’s government,” said Russell Dye, a spokesman for Republicans on the oversight committee. | “It’s rich that on the day Democrats are impeaching the president for allegedly obstructing Congress, they are obstructing Congress by denying the minority a legitimate hearing to examine serious misconduct within the District’s government,” said Russell Dye, a spokesman for Republicans on the oversight committee. |
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