‘This Is Not a Real Hearing’: Congressman Kicks Off Roundtable by Announcing Democrats Are Boycotting

House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-CA) kicked off a committee roundtable on Tuesday by announcing that Democratic members would be boycotting it since it was “not a real hearing.”

“Unfortunately, I do have to announce that Democratic members will not be participating in today’s hearing,” said Garcia during his opening remarks:

This roundtable, which is really set up to have witnesses, where we have no input on motions, where we have no input and no formal rules, and no ability to call witnesses, and also importantly no ability to have motions to subpoena, I think is important to call out. Now, this is not a real hearing. It’s one that’s set up to appear like one. This is a roundtable designed without rules, rights, or accountability, and critically no ability for members to make motions. What’s happening today, in our opinion, is not real oversight.

Now, Oversight Republicans have not held a public, full committee roundtable– as far as the last three years that I’ve been on this committee, there hasn’t been a roundtable that’s been set up. This is the first one, and we should be clear about why that’s happening. Last week, Attorney General Pam Bondi skipped a legally-required deposition to be before our committee. No communication, no compliance, and no accountability. Instead of enforcing the subpoena, the majority is canceling hearings altogether. It’s not just happening in the full committee, it’s also happening in subcommittees.

When we have real hearings, members from both parties can successfully force votes and issue subpoenas. Now, since July 2025, the committee has made seven successful subpoena motions, including eighteen subpoenas, all with the support of bipartisan members of both the majority and the minority, and we know that this has not just of course been a Democratic effort, but Republicans have joined as well. Representatives Burchett, Perry, Luna, and Mace have all made successful motions which we have agreed are important as Democrats, and when members are given their full rights, this committee has been able to act.

But someone wants to shut down hearings in Oversight. Democrats will not participate in a process designed to strip members of their rights. We do encourage the majority to hold real conversations, to hold real hearings, and to do those immediately.

Politico reported on Tuesday that for months, members of both the Democratic and Republican Party have been “hijacking” the House Oversight Committee “to call votes on subpoenas for high-profile figures in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.”

According to Politico, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) has worked to combat these subpoenas by holding more informal “roundtables” instead of legitimate hearings, which “don’t permit members to offer motions to subpoena witnesses during unrelated committee business, as is allowed during hearings.”

Despite being subpoenaed last month to appear before the House Oversight Committee to answer questions about the Epstein files, and the Trump administration’s controversial handling of their release, Bondi refused to appear after being ousted from her position as U.S. attorney general by President Donald Trump.

Watch above via House Oversight Committee.

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