NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland — Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) threatened to abolish a slew of federal agencies such as the FBI and the Justice Department, accusing top officials of using their government offices for political aims.
In a speech addressing supporters at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday, Gaetz defended his efforts to stall Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) speakership vote in January until House Republicans could negotiate some rules changes from the party leader. One such concession was the creation of a committee examining the “Weaponization of the Federal Government,” which was a key demand of several of McCarthy’s holdouts.
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“It seems like every time I turn around, [federal agencies] engage in surveillance … or monitoring,” Gaetz said. “I don’t care if it takes every second of our time and every ounce of our energy. We either get this government back on our side, or we defund and get rid of — abolish the FBI, [the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], [the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives], DOJ — every last one of them if they do not come to heel.”
Gaetz has touted the work of the newly created committee so far, calling on fellow lawmakers to accomplish a “fundamental reshaping” of the federal government, while Democrats argue the panel’s investigations are a partisan exercise.
Since its inception in mid-January, lawmakers on the weaponization committee have already begun to investigate alleged political biases within the DOJ and other federal agencies. The panel held its first hearing in early February and is scheduled to hold another next week that will focus on allegations of collusion between Twitter and government officials during the 2020 election cycle.
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Gaetz’s comments come as high-profile conservatives meet in Washington for the annual conference this week in what has been billed as the year’s largest gathering of activists on the Right.
The conference is scheduled to run through the rest of the week, ending with a keynote speech from former President Donald Trump on Saturday evening. The event features several prominent conservatives, from GOP presidential candidates to lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
