Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has been tapped to serve on the House subcommittee investigating the weaponization of the federal government, replacing Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX).
House Republican leadership has not formally announced the switch, but the subcommittee’s website shows Gaetz among Republican members and omits Roy, according to reports.
The change was noticed by some reporters after the subcommittees roster was entered into the Congressional Record on Tuesday.
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“[Gaetz] is honored to serve on the Weaponization Subcommittee and will be working very hard,” wrote a spokesperson for Gaetz in an email exchange with NBC News.
According to one lawmaker who spoke to NBC, the switch was due to conflicts Roy’s schedule, which includes assignments with the Judiciary, Budget, and Rules Committees.
“I admire Chip for recognizing his limits,” the lawmaker said.
Roy confirmed that he inquired House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) about stepping off of the “weaponization” committee after Joe Biden delivered his State of the Union Address before Congress on Tuesday night.
“We had a conversation. I thought it made sense for me to balance my life and to do what I need to do,” Roy said. “I would like to be on it, but I’ve got just way too much going on.”
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“I decided it would be better for everybody and for the cause to free that up,” the Texas Republican lawmaker added.
Gaetz was notably one of the House Speaker’s most outspoken critics when McCarthy was seeking the speakership, influencing a handful of Republican lawmakers to vote “no” for McCarthy in an apparent attempt to steer the conference in a more conservative direction.
After McCarthy failed to secure the speakership 13 consecutive times, the now-House Speaker conceded to a number of rules changes, prompting the Florida Congressman to vote “present” and send McCarthy to victory.
The subcommittee, set to be led by Ohio Republican Congressman Jim Jordan, will reportedly investigate how the executive branch gathers information on American citizens and utilized private sector companies, such as Twitter, “to facilitate action against American citizens.”
Jordan’s committee has been likened to the 1970’s Church Committee led by Sen. Frank Church, D-Idaho, who investigated Executive Branch abuses by the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service.
Last month, 45th President Donald Trump called on the subcommittee to reveal the “role of federal agents and informants” in sabotaging the election integrity protest that descended into chaos on January 6, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol building.
In urging investigations into federal involvement in January 6, the 45th President specifically mentioned Ray Epps, who has been fingered as a possible federal agent or informant by an extensive series of Revolver News profiles.
“What was the role of federal agents and informants in pressing the crowd toward the Capitol on January 6, and who is Ray Epps? Tell me about Ray Epps. Where does he come from? I think we know,” the 45th President said.
This news and commentary by Andrew White originally appeared on Valiant News.