House GOP threatens to withhold funds from FBI after accusing agency of being 'weaponized'

WASHINGTON (TND) — The House has just passed what Republicans call the “Parents Bill of Rights Act.” It would require public school districts to post their class curricula and even a list of books and reading materials available in school libraries. It comes at a time some school officials say they fear for their safety.

From school closures to mask mandates to subject matters that some parents didn’t like, some say it was only a matter of time until the anger was palpable, leading to a backlash against teachers and school board members.

Contentious fights were followed by threats and then a memo issued by the Department of Justice on Oct. 4, 2021, detailing “a disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence."

The memo was issued just five days after a letter from the National School Board Association which called the actions "the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes."

Those words have since been seized on by House Republicans. In a hearing Thursday held by the new Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., the Chairman, said, "The Patriot Act was passed [after] 9/11 to combat international terrorism but this administration is now employing it to target concerned parents.”

Now they say they want to "claw back" the $375 million that’s been set aside for a new Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters to be built just outside of Washington.

“Let’s do less insourcing into the swamp of Washington and more outsourcing of human talent out to the great field offices through our nation," said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., in an interview with The National Desk Friday.

The FBI's current headquarters was built back in 1963, so top officials there are pleading for a more up-to-date facility to be able to carry out its mission of keeping Americans safe. Democrats say Republicans are getting in the way.

“They don’t actually support law and order. Extreme MAGA Republicans are about lawlessness and disorder," said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.

Following those school board meetings, police did make inquiries in at least 26 cases, including an email that said “You people need to be arrested, tried and hung by the neck until you’re dead.”

In an in-depth investigation by Reuters, the audio from Voice Mails is shared including one caller saying, "They will f--king see your head swinging from a pole."

It is yet another fight over the best way forward that is coming to a head on Capitol Hill.