These House Republicans Finally Found a Woman Whose Rights They Want to Protect

Now that Donald Trump is out of office, a couple of House Republicans have settled on a new celebrity to defend in the ongoing culture wars: Britney Spears.

Right-wing duo Rep. Jim Jordan and Rep. Matt Gaetz wrote a letter Monday to House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler, a Democrat, citing the Grammy-winning artist’s legal case and calling for a hearing on conservatorships. Spears was involuntarily placed in a conservatorship 13 years ago in which her father was appointed by the courts to manage her daily and financial affairs. She has remained in it ever since. 

“Given the constitutional freedom at stake and opaqueness of these arrangements, it is incumbent upon our Committee to convene a hearing to examine whether Americans are trapped unjustly in conservatorships," the pair wrote in the letter. 

Spears’ conservatorship began as a temporary order when she was hospitalized for mental health issues in 2008, but it soon became permanent. Though Spears, now 39, has launched several successful Las Vegas residencies and released four albums since her conservatorship began, her father remains her conservator, though her lawyers have said she wants him removed. Her conservatorship is now managed by her father, Jamie Spears, and the private company Bessemer Trust. 

Britney Spears’ lawyer, Samuel Ingham, told a court last year that she’s afraid of her father and refuses to continue her musical career “if her father is in charge of her career.”  

The House Judiciary committee has not committed to a hearing about the Britney Spears conservatorship, but a spokesperson told VICE News that “the Chairman has received the request.” They then listed some of the committee’s more immediate priorities to work through, including civil rights, controlled substances, media competition, and more. 

Spears’ 2008 conservatorship gave her father control of her assets and estate. A documentary about the performer's  career and the conservatorship, “Framing Britney Spears,” was produced by the New York Times and sparked renewed interest about the case when it premiered last month. 

The #FreeBritney movement, which started as a fringe internet phenomenon, has gained steam in recent years. Fellow musicians like Miley Cyrus and Pitbull have come out in support of Spears’ efforts to break the conservatorship, and members of the #FreeBritney movement picketed outside of a court hearing in Los Angeles last month. 

In their letter, Gaetz and Jordan point to “questionable motives and legal tactics” on the part of Spears’ father, and say Spears’ case reflects a larger problem with conservatorships, which are overwhelmingly implemented in cases of elderly people who have been deemed to be no longer able to care for themselves. “Ms. Spears is not alone. There are countless other Americans unjustly stripped of their freedoms by others with little recourse," Gaetz and Jordan wrote. 

Though data is woefully incomplete, a 2013 AARP report estimated the number of adults living in conservatorship at 1.5 million. 

Once someone is placed into conservatorship, it’s an exceedingly hard to get out.  "Of the cases I've been involved in, I have not seen a conservatee who has successfully terminated a conservatorship," Vivian Lee Thoreen, a member of Jamie Spears’ legal team, told the New York Times. (At the time of the interview, Thoreen was no longer representing Spears, but she rejoined his legal team before the documentary aired.)

Following the publication of Gaetz and Jordan’s letter, Thoreen told TMZ: "Jamie Spears has diligently and professionally carried out his duties as one of Britney’s conservators, and his love for his daughter and dedication to protecting her is clearly apparent to the court.”

Gaetz told TMZ that, should a congressional hearing on conservatorships take place, he hopes Britney Spears will testify.

"I think we can call her into the House Judiciary Committee with no lawyers, no conservators, and we can hear directly from her about the abuses in the process,” Gaetz said. “And look, hey, she wouldn't be the first celebrity who used her fame to do good.”