Twenty-three years into his public service career, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., has been named to one of Congress’ most visible and important bodies: chairing the House Oversight and Reform Committee.
It’s a plum gig that puts him at the lead of most investigations in House. But before the 118th Congress even began its work, Comer made it clear the committee will focus in on President Joe Biden.
“We’re launching an investigation into the Biden family influence peddling,” Comer told Spectrum News. “We already have ample evidence that not only did Joe Biden know very well about – about his son, and brother's shady business dealings, despite telling people during the presidential campaign that he knew nothing about it. But we also know that he benefitted.”
The White House has pushed back against these allegations.
“President Biden is not going to let these political attacks distract him from focusing on Americans' priorities, and we hope congressional Republicans will join us in tackling them instead of wasting time and resources on political revenge,” a White House spokesperson said in a statement.
Comer’s political career officially began in 2000, when he was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives at 27 years old. But his interests were rooted early on: Both of his grandfathers were local party chairs in adjacent counties in Kentucky and Tennessee, and at a young age he joined the National FFA Organization, commonly known as the Future Farmers of America. Comer worked his way up to become the Kentucky FFA state president, and soon after began volunteering for political campaigns.
On his first trip to Washington (“It was really my first trip – outside of a school bus to a basketball game – anywhere, very far from my county,” Comer recalled), he met two future Congressional colleagues from Kentucky’s delegation: now-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, as well as Rep. Hal Rogers, who assumed Congressional office in 1981.
“He’s still down the hall, if that tells you anything,” Comer said.
Comer spent 11 years in Kentucky’s House, served a four-year stint as the state’s Agriculture Commission, and ran for governor in 2015. Comer narrowly lost the Republican nomination to Matt Bevin, who would go on to serve a single term as Kentucky governor. The next year, Comer won his seat in Congress, where he’s represented Kentucky’s First District for the past six years.
As oversight chair, Comer will be among the most visible members of the 118th Congress, standing at the front of press conferences focused on investigations of national interest.
Comer claims that not enough oversight took place over the last two years, when Democrats controlled the House, the Senate and the White House. That expects to change under his leadership. The committee, he said, will look into Biden family dealings and allegations of “influence peddling” – particularly in China, a favored topic of conversation among the GOP.
In addition, Comer said that the Oversight Committee will look into COVID spending and immigration along the U.S. border with Mexico.