Gaetz requests Judiciary Committee start each hearing with Pledge of Allegiance, Nadler calls it ‘unnecessary’

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on Thursday suggested to the House Judiciary Committee that each hearing should be commenced with a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, but the committee chair, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), said such a proposal was “unnecessary.”

“I just think that it would be nice if—in the spirit of national unity and national pride, which I know we all aspire to do to a greater extent—that at the beginning of each meeting the chair, or one of the designees of the chair, would have the opportunity to lead us in the pledge of allegiance,” the Florida Republican said to Nadler.

Citing the turbulent times right now in the United States, Gaetz said that “it’s important for the country to see members of Congress working together on some things, and while I know that we can deal with divisive issues in the committee, it would be my hope that we could start every committee with a great, unifying, patriotic moment.”

Nadler responded by saying that reciting the pledge before each hearing was “unnecessary,” adding that the House of Representatives “begins every day with the Pledge of Allegiance” and that “we’re covered by that.”

“There’s no necessity to say the Pledge of Allegiance twice during the same day,” the New York Democrat added.

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