GOP House targets China, abortion, IRS funding in McCarthy’s first

WASHINGTON – The new Republican House majority used its first full week in office to quickly pass six pieces of legislation that showcased the party’s political priorities.

Following Republicans’ historic intraparty battle for the speakership earlier this month, GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s first week was an exercise in party unity. The Republican caucus unanimously supported all six of the bills, two of which also won over a large bloc of Democrats.

As long as Democrats control the Senate, however, bills that pass the House on a party line vote have little chance of becoming law.

Instead, their purpose is largely to fulfill campaign promises that Republican candidates made in the 2022 midterms. Some could also potentially serve as leverage in negotiations over the federal budget and the debt ceiling, both expected later this year.

Yet even as Republicans worked efficiently on the House floor, party leaders were beset by questions over the fate of newly sworn-in Rep. George Santos.

The embattled New York Republican has admitted to lying about his background, prompting howls of bipartisan criticism and calls for his resignation. But Santos this week vowed to stay in Congress and serve out his full two-year term, a decision McCarthy backed.

“Voters have elected George Santos,” McCarthy told reporters Thursday in the Capitol. Rather than move to expel Santos, McCarthy appeared to put his faith in a House Ethics Committee investigation of the lawmaker.

“If anything is found to be wrong, he will be held accountable, exactly as anybody else in this body would be,” said McCarthy.

The furor over Santos cast a shadow over the Republican caucus. It drew attention away from the week’s accomplishments, among them that McCarthy was able to pass two bipartisan pieces of legislation.

The bipartisan bills both targeted China, underscoring the breadth of support in Congress for anything that promises to strengthen America’s hand relative to its global competitors.

The first created a new select committee to investigate China’s long-term threat to the United States. It received more votes than any other this week, as every Republican and 146 Democrats voted for it on Tuesday.

The committee will expose the Chinese Communist Party’s “coordinated whole of society strategy to undermine American leadership and American sovereignty,” its new chairman, Wisconsin GOP Rep. Mike Gallagher, said on the House floor.

The second China-related bill would prohibit oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve from being sold to China. On Thursday, 115 Democrats joined the entire GOP caucus to back the ban. But it was unclear whether it would be taken up by the Democratic-controlled Senate.

In addition to China, the new Republican majority made abortion a centerpiece of its agenda. This follows a…