With the recent power shift in the US House of Representatives, new rivalries have already started to forge just weeks after election day. Congressman-elect Cory Mills (R-FL) may be the newest target of the Progressive Democratic "Squad" in the House as soon as he gets sworn into his first congressional term in office.
Last Spring Mills first entered the realm of the Squad over a pending congressional hearing. Squad members, US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and US Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) both called out Mills' Florida-based weapons contracting company, PACEM Defense, LLC.
The letter penned by members of the House Oversight committee expressed concerns as they alleged tear gas was used on, "non-violent protestors exercising their First Amendment rights," using material from the company Cory Mills runs.
The Floridian spoke to Mills where the then-Republican congressional candidate doubled down on his support for law enforcement and bashed the Squad for pushing to, "defund" them.
“I have always supported ALL Law Enforcement, including correctional officers, and will continue to do so. We support funding the police, not defunding them, as well as our brave servicemen and women of the Armed Forces,” said Mills in a statement to The Floridian.
The Floridan recently caught up with Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and asked what she thinks of her new congressional colleague whom she once targeted as a private citizen.
The Floridian also asked if she would be following up with the up-in-the-air congressional hearing regarding his company, which she did not answer to.
"That's an excellent question that I'm sure my legislative team will be taking into consideration... I think there's a lot there. I don't want to speak too much because there's going to be legal structures about what that distancing looks like, what leadership looks like, ultimately this isn't about specific personalities, it's about accountability for institutions," said Ocasio-Cortez.
With Republicans controlling the House, anything Ocasio-Cortez brings up to leadership about Mills will surely fall on deaf ears.
Mills having to testify as a Congressman would be unprecedented but is very unlikely. What is obvious, however, is the new Florida congressman has already stirred the pot for the Democratic-Socialist wing of the US House.
The stage is set for a potential House floor showdown between Mills and Ocasio-Cortez, Bush, and possibly Rep. Ilhan Omar is in line with her fellow Democratic lawmaker's views regarding Mills.
Mills will be sworn in on January 3, 2023.
