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House Republicans Jordan, Gaetz join #FreeBritney

March 12, 2021

House Republicans Jim Jordan and Matt Gaetz are calling on the House Judiciary Committee to hold a hearing on conservatorships, pointing to Britney Spears' high-profile conservatorship battle.

In a letter Monday to House Judiciary Committee chair Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Jordan (R-Ohio,), the committee's ranking member, and Gaetz (R-Fla.), who serves on the committee, argued conservatorships can deprive citizens of their "personal freedoms" through the manipulation of the courts.

Spears has been fighting to cut her father out of a conservatorship that has left him in control of her finances and career.

"Ms. Spears is not alone. There are countless other Americans unjustly stripped of their freedoms by others with little recourse," Jordan and Gaetz wrote in the letter. "Given the constitutional freedoms at stake and opaqueness of these agreements, it is incumbent upon our Committee to convene a hearing to examine whether Americans are trapped unjustly in conservatorships."

Joining the #FreeBritney movement, Jordan and Gaetz wrote that Spears' father, Jamie Spears, has "questionable motives" in the conservatorship. Spears has said that she won't continue her career as long as her father has power over it.

Many celebrities, including Miley Cyrus and Pitbull, have supported Spears.

The conservatorship for Spears started in 2008 as she was struggling with personal and psychiatric issues. An attorney for Spears' father has said he has had a strong record as conservator.

"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," Vivian Thoreen, her father's attorney, wrote in a statement to POLITICO. "Any time Britney wants to end her conservatorship, she can ask her lawyer to file a petition to terminate it; she has always had this right but in 13 years has never exercised it."

"Britney knows that her Daddy loves her, and that he will be there for her whenever and if she needs him, just as he always has been — conservatorship or not."

A spokesperson for the committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.