House Oversight Chairman Comer charts a course to support Trump's goals for DOGE and transparency

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer on Thursday outlined his panels sweeping accountability plans in the coming months, targeting fraudulent government payments, foreign funding to universities, and the government’s lack of transparency about the Havana Syndrome injuries to diplomats. 

The Chairman’s comments detailing the committee’s plans came in a wide-ranging interview with the "Just the News, No Noise" TV show and focus on improving government transparency now that House Republicans have a cooperative executive branch. 

Comer said the new “disruptors” in government, like FBI Director Kash Patel, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Elon Musk at the Department for Government Efficiency (DOGE) will be vital to going after the “deep state,” which he says has wasted American taxpayer dollars and weaponized the bureaucracy. 

Foreign contribution reporting

“They have covered up Democrat criminality and they have weaponized their agencies to go after conservatives, whether it's in the IRS or whether it's in the Department of Justice or whether it's in the FBI, these people need to be held accountable. We finally have disruptors in the government like cash Patel and Pete Hedgepeth and John Radcliffe, who are willing to go after the deep state,” Comer said. “And look, I'm pretty, pretty excited.” 

Last week, the Oversight Committee announced several new probes that had been stymied or ignored during the Biden administration’s control of the executive branch, including an investigation into foreign contribution reporting requirements for U.S. universities. 

“[When] you look at Joe Biden, Anthony Blinken, the number one and three guys in our government for the past four years, during the four years of the Trump administration, when they weren't in power, they were working for the University of Pennsylvania, we found that that, you know, a huge percentage of their budget was coming from China, not just China, not a business person from China, not a company from China, anonymous sources from China,” Chairman Comer said. 

“And what I learned in the Biden administration, anonymous sources usually means the government China, and this is the Pennsylvania is one of dozens. Dozens of schools that receive a substantial percentage of their budget from China. Why is China donating money to American universities?” Comer asked. 

In an announcement launching the investigation, the committee noted that many universities, since 2020, failed to file disclosures of foreign donations with the Department of Education that are required by law. 

“I believe there's an indoctrination factor there, and I believe that one reason our university has gotten so pitiful is because of the influx of Chinese money. So we're going to try to identify how much we're talking about here, which universities are the worst offenders, and see if the universities will answer the question, who in China is donating this money,” Comer said. 

Havana Syndrome

Comer’s committee also announced this week that it would seek more transparency about the Havana Syndrome incidents that were reported several overseas diplomatic posts, most notably in Havana Cuba beginning a decade ago. 

The mysterious affliction that often came with cognitive issues, dizziness, insomnia and headaches was originally suspected to be some kind of attack against U.S. diplomatic personnel, but researchers have been unable to identify the cause of the afflictions. Some studies have suggested it is possible “some form of radio frequency energy or focused ultrasound” could be the cause, according to the Government Accountability Office. 

Comer believes that foreign government hostile to the United States are involved. 

“[This] is a real thing that I believe the government's not been truthful, not just with the American people, but with the people affected by Havana Syndrome—this is something that that Cuba was doing in retaliation to a change in policy with respect to us Cuban relations,” Comer said. 

“And you know, it's something that a lot of people have suffered by. The government's known a lot more about this and what they've been transparent with the American people. And you know, what we're trying to do is be transparent with the American people and trying to provide justice for the people that have been adversely affected, the patriots and the soldiers that went over there, the diplomats to try to do good thing,” he explained. 

In a letter to the new Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, Comer said he was launching an investigation into the Biden administration’s handling of the incidents and a failure to properly care for those afflicted by the condition. A Senate Intelligence Committee report in December, for example, found that the Central Intelligence Agency did not properly secure medical care for those experiencing the symptoms. 

"People are going to be disgusted"

Comer also highlighted his committee’s plans to assist Elon Musk in exposing improper payments across the government as part of the DOGE initiative. 

“I don't think we even scraped the surface yet the biggest problem, and this is where Elon Musk comes in, and this is why he's the perfect person to do this, despite what the Democrats are saying, is the improper payments every government agency, whether it's the unemployment office, whether it's social security, whether it's a small business administration, whether it's grants through the Department of Energy or EPA, they've been susceptible to fraud, Comer said. 

“I think people are going to be disgusted when they find out how much of our tax dollars have been wasted to fraud by overseas entities. And it is, again, for two reasons. We have old, obsolete software, and we have bureaucrats who are not doing their job in detecting waste, fraud, abuse,” he continued. 

Recently, Comer tapped Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., to lead a special DOGE subcommittee of the Oversight Committee. Earlier this month, the subcommittee held its inaugural hearing focused on improper Medicaid and Medicare payments. 

Some news outlets have reported that DOGE team's "wall of receipts" shows errors in tallying billions in savings. Axios published a story casting doubt on the actual savings made by DOGE, saying "DOGE claims that its "total estimated savings" to date are roughly $55 billion. But there are questions about whether that sum is inflated. Bloomberg says the website lists $16.6 billion in savings."