Shortly after Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States, 17 freshmen Republicans in the US House acquiesced to the disingenuous call for “unity” emanating from the inauguration dais.
The seventeen freshmen Congressmen sent a letter congratulating Biden on his election to office, saying they were hopeful they could work across the aisle in a bi-partisan manner.
“After two impeachments, lengthy inter-branch investigations, and most recently, the horrific attack on our nation’s capital, it is clear that the partisan divide between Democrats and Republicans does not serve a single American,” the letter states.
The letter highlights some areas where the freshman legislators believe there could be some common ground.
Today I joined 16 colleagues in a letter to President Biden expressing willingness to work together on:
-extending COVID relief
-protecting pre-existing conditions
-infrastructure modernization
-economic revitalization
The American people deserve more than reflexive partisanship. pic.twitter.com/EYH4Itey38— Rep. Peter Meijer (@RepMeijer) January 20, 2021
“We hope to work with you to extend targeted, meaningful coronavirus relief for families and businesses, protect Americans with pre-existing conditions, strengthen and modernize our infrastructure, enforce our anti-trust laws against emboldened technology monopolies, and restore our economy struggling in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic,” the letter reads.
Biden’s call for unity was made amidst a blizzard of partisan attacks on Republicans on Capitol Hill who exercised their constitutional duties to object to elector slates in the Electoral College they believed to be illegitimate due to malfeasance in certifications as the state level and a mountain of reports citing voter fraud and ballot tampering.
The caustic attacks made by Democrat and Progressive leadership – as well as their rank-and-file – in both chambers of Congress, extended to Republican, conservative, and Libertarian voters, and especially those who maintained support for former-President Trump.
Newly elected Rep. #PeterMeijer said he may have ended his political career when he joined 9 House Republicans in pursuing the 2nd #Impeachment against President Trump. https://t.co/atHOMRPFcL
— The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) January 17, 2021
Among the signatories to the letter were two House Republicans who voted to impeach President Trump for a second time last week; Reps. Peter Meijer (R-MI), and David Valadao (R-CA).
An embarrassing total of 10 House Republicans – including the GOP’s number three, US Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), joined Democrats in voting for impeachment citing the false narrative that President Trump engaged in incitement to cause an insurrection on January 6th, 2021.
Also signing the concession letter were several House Republicans who voted for one or both challenges to the slates of electors at the Electoral College including: Reps. Stephanie Bice (R-OK), Madison Cawthorn (R-NC), Scott Franklin (R-FL), Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), Yvette Herrell (R-NM), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Barry Moore (R-AL), Jay Obernolte (R-CA), Burgess Owens (R-UT), and Jerry Carl (R-AL).
The “Gang of 17” represents a but a small fraction of the 211 members in the House GOP conference.