Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (Fla.) announced Sunday that she wants the House to employ the sergeant-at-arms clause, which hasn’t been invoked in over a century, to execute the contempt of Congress resolution against Attorney General Merrick Garland.
In an interview with Maria Bartiromo on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” Luna revealed that she had presented a resolution a few months ago for inherent contempt of Congress, a power Congress hasn’t had since the early 1900s.
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“I anticipated that the Department of Justice would not do their job, so I had this teed up and ready to go,” she explained, as reported by Mediaite.
Luna stated that she brought the concept to Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La) notice.
The provision, she explained, permits Congress to “be the punitive arm and really hold Garland accountable by using the sergeant-at-arms to essentially go and get him,” adding that they would “bring him to the well of the House.”
Luna claimed that the provision permits Congress to act as “a check and balance on the Department of Justice.”
According to the House, the sergeant-at-arms is an elected person who serves as the chief law enforcement and etiquette officer in charge of preserving order in the House.
Last Friday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) determined that Garland did not commit a crime by failing to comply with the House Republicans’ subpoena for tape of President Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur.
The DOJ stated that Biden’s assertion of executive privilege over the tapes shields Garland from prosecution.
On Friday, Johnson announced that the House would take the contempt of Congress matter to court after the DOJ refused to pursue charges. He stated it was “sadly predictable” that the DOJ did not pursue Garland, despite prosecuting Republicans such as Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro.
After failing to comply with subpoenas issued on January 6, Navarro and Bannon faced contempt of Congress charges. Navarro has been in prison since March, and Bannon will go to federal prison in the coming weeks.
According to the DOJ, it did not pursue other Republicans found in contempt, such as Bill Barr and Mark Meadows.
