Vulnerable Republican defends attendance record: ‘I’ve been working like a dog’
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is defending his Senate attendance record after he came under fire for missing committee meetings.
“I’ve been working like a dog as your United States senator, that was a completely false hit piece. But it was done because, hey, it works,” Johnson said Friday at a Marquette University Law School event. “It was not even close to fair.”
{mosads}The Wisconsin Republican was asked about a report in the Milwaukee-Journal Sentinel late last month, which Democrats quickly circulated, that said Johnson missed 60 percent of Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and subcommittee hearings between 2011 and 2014.
Johnson, who faces a tough reelection bid, on Friday called the statistic a “false narrative,” saying that he frequently had conflicting obligations.
“What I don’t do is I don’t do the drive-by hearings a lot of my colleagues do,” he added. “I actually participate in the hearing, and as a result I have to prioritize.”
Johnson is now chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and has put national security at the center of his reelection bid.
Johnson’s campaign argued that by focusing on 2011-2014, Democrats are purposefully ignoring that the Wisconsin Republican has attended 50 out of 53 committee hearings since becoming chairman in January 2015.
According to the same report, former Sen. Russ Feingold, Johnson’s likely Democratic opponent, also missed 50 percent of Foreign Relations Committee and subcommittee hearings from 2005 through 2010.
Republicans have repeatedly criticized Feingold’s support for pillars of President Obama’s foreign policy, including the Iran nuclear deal.
Johnson is considered one of the most vulnerable Senate Republicans up for reelection in November, and is currently trailing Feingold by 10 points, according to a RealClearPolitics average of polling in the race.
This story was updated at 8:45 p.m.
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