Washington, DC – Committee on House Administration Ranking Member Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) issued this statement after committee Democrats doubled down on their efforts to use a partisan process to steal a congressional seat.

"The process put forth by the Chairperson is neither fair, nor lawful. It is partisan and in violation of the Federal Contested Elections Act (FCEA)," said Davis. "More and more House Democrats are publicly expressing concern over this committee's efforts to steal an election because that's exactly what this committee is doing. The rules established by this committee stack the deck against Congresswoman Miller-Meeks and in favor of Rita Hart. The candidate herself said this is the only way she could get the results she needed and they are proving her correct. This committee is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to ‘investigate' an election that wasn't afflicted with chaos and that wasn't even challenged in the courts. Democrats should stop wasting taxpayer dollars and voter to dismiss this contest immediately."

On March 10, Democrats notified the parties involved that the committee will ignore a statute that has been in place since 1969, materially change how the contest will be conducted, and tip the scales in favor of Rita Hart. These rules limit Congresswoman Miller-Meeks's opportunity to conduct discovery, like cross-examining witnesses, prior to filing the first briefs, which is particularly problematic here because Democrats are trying to require all arguments to be raised in these initial briefs or else be forfeited – a clear violation of the Federal Contested Elections Act (FCEA). Additionally, instead of requiring Rita Hart prove why Iowa's elections were so problematic that the issues raised would have changed the outcome, the Democrats' new rules now put the burden of proof on Congresswoman Miller-Meeks to show she won the seat, despite her having an election certificate issued by the bipartisan State Canvassing Board. This is a clear departure from how the committee handled the last substantive contest.