Vote to hold AG Merrick Garland in contempt fails in House

A vote to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress failed in the House of Representatives on Thursday morning by a 204-210 vote. Twelve Republicans abstained.

The effort, brought on by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fl., would have fined Garland $10,000 a day for failing to comply with a House subpoena requiring him to hand over audio recordings of conversations between President Joe Biden and Special Counsel Robert Hur. The conversations took place last October during Hur’s investigation into whether President Joe Biden had mishandled classified information.

Although the transcripts of the interviews were made public in February, Republicans contended that the audio recordings themselves would provide needed context to evaluate the president’s mental state free of any editorial revisions made when creating the transcript.

In his final report, Hur said a jury might perceive the president as an “elderly man with a poor memory,”—a statement Democrats at the time characterized as inappropriate and politically motivated.

Concerns about the president’s age have only increased in recent weeks following a presidential debate on June 27 during which Biden stumbled over his words, lost his train of thought, and paused for prolonged periods.

In addition to framing Democratic opposition to the resolution as a Democrat-led attempt to shield the president against further embarrassment, Republicans like Luna have also said the measure will ensure compliance with future subpoenas.

“We need to keep people answering when we want them to,” Luna said.

Why did the vote fail? In addition to the 12 non-votes, four Republicans voted with Democrats to defeat the measure, calling the contempt resolution an improper way to go about pursuing party goals.

Rep. John Duarte, R-Calif., said he took issue with the privileged nature of the motion Luna used to bring the vote to the floor. (A privileged motion forces a chamber vote within two legislative days.)

“Privileged amendments sidestep regular order and due process,” Duarte said. “We are a deliberative body. I don’t think it's great teamwork. It’s a distraction.”

Moments after the failed vote, Luna said she believes an attempt to hold Garland in contempt may still succeed. She pointed out that several of the outstanding Republican votes were due to family emergencies, illness, or travel.

Dig deeper: Read my reporting on how House Democrats are addressing concerns over Biden’s age.