Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) is feeling the wrath of ranking House Financial Services Committee member Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) after she abruptly ended a hearing with bank regulators following a heated exchange.
On Thursday, Chairwoman Waters put a pin in the over three-hour session, even though Republicans expressed they wanted to continue asking questions. McHenry specifically made such a request, but Waters was quick to shoot him down.
“If a mistake was made and you were not notified, we will deal with that later,” she said.
At the time, McHenry shot back, “This is a travesty the way you’ve handled this.”
Later, the congressman explained that he isn’t in Congress to have “frivolous” fights and added, “That hearing could have ended in a much better way with an understanding going forward that the rules will be followed.”
On Friday, McHenry continued to sound off on Waters.
“The unfortunate thing is,” he told the Washington Examiner, “while I’ve had a good working relationship with Chairwoman Waters, I think she’s been given horrible advice as it pertains to the law and parliamentary procedure.”
Waters, however, has her own piece to say about McHenry. In a statement issued via her spokesperson, she fired back.
I am committed to continuing to provide productive leadership, and I and my experienced and committed staff will continue to work with Mr. McHenry and his staff. None of us have time for squabbling. The issues we are dealing with are much too important to be diverted into distraction and finger-pointing.
Several Republicans told Politico the incident was just part of a pattern of Waters snubbing the GOP members on the committee, which included not giving sufficient formal notice for the hearing.
They also noted the time when she scolded Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin when he attempted to leave a hearing last month. Mnuchin later called the incident “silly,” as IJR Red reported.
“Actions speak louder than words,” Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) put it bluntly.
Via IJR
