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Anyone Want To Argue Republicans Aren't Destroying Democracy?

Lott threatens the Dems

Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) is threatening to punish Democrats for using an Appropriations Committee room for an unofficial hearing on Iraq oversight if it happens again.

“They better stop this,” the Mississippi Republican said. “This will be the last one or there will be retribution.”

Lott suggested that Republicans could hold GOP-only hearings or seek other forms of payback.

But if he is looking for a culprit in abetting the Democratic Policy Committee’s (DPC) hearing yesterday, he need look no further than fellow Mississippi Republican Thad Cochran, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, who controls the Dirksen Building room that Democrats used yesterday and have used for past hearings.

“We just call and ask,” said DPC spokesman Barry Piatt, a fact confirmed by Senate Appropriations Committee spokeswoman Jenny Manley.

The DPC has held similar hearings on several issues such as Iraq reconstruction and the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina, during the 109th Congress.

But Lott and other Republicans are upset that Democrats have gone outside the committee process to highlight the Iraq war before the November election.

“They’re abusing the system,” Lott said.

The use of committee rooms could be moot, as Democrats plan to take future hearings on the road.