US House reauthorizes special panel probing Benghazi attack
The Republican-led House voted Tuesday to extend a special committee's investigation into the deadly 2012 attacks on an American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including a US ambassador. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a possible Democratic presidential candidate, could be called to testify about the attack, which occurred while she served as secretary of state.
The move to reauthorize the politically charged panel was included in a rules package for the new Congress that passed 234 to 172, mostly along party lines.
Five Democrats on the select committee lamented the reauthorization, which set no limit on the committee's budget or time frame, which means it could last well into the presidential election year of 2016.
"After eight months and more than a million taxpayer dollars spent, it remains unclear what new questions the select committee seeks to answer," the Democrats said in a statement. "Since our members were denied the ability to meaningfully debate or amend the resolution, we now look to the committee to quickly adopt rules that ensure that our Democratic members are able to participate fully in the investigation."
