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Dems Plan Oversight of Trump Admin. 09/28 06:25
House Democrats are preparing a vast oversight agenda, with investigations
of President Donald Trump, his family and his administration if the party
sweeps control of the chamber from Republicans in the November elections.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Democrats are preparing a vast oversight agenda,
with investigations of https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump, his family and his
administration if the party sweeps control of the chamber from Republicans in
the https://apnews.com/hub/elections
The undertaking is as robust as it is daunting, spanning several House
committees. With majority power comes bigger budgets and staff, and the ability
to investigate, subpoena and potentially course-correct what the Democrats say
are widespread corruption and abuses of power.
https://apnews.com/today-in-history/february-5 and Cabinet officials is not off
the table.
"There is a cost to the American people of the out-of-control corruption,"
said Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, who is in line to become
House speaker if Democrats win control at the Capitol.
"If folks have been stealing from the American people, shortchanging the
American people or screwing over the American people," Jeffries said, "we are
going to hold the crooks accountable."
Congress has enormous ability to conduct oversight of the executive branch
as part of its power as a coequal branch of government, and a road map for the
Democratic-run investigations has already been set by the almost daily letters
lawmakers send to the administration and in amicus court filings.
Democrats are asking about the
https://apnews.com/article/trump-financial-disclosure-crypto-060c15062b8fedc6104
159ea13775463 by Trump and his family, whose wealth has grown dramatically
since he returned to the White House in January 2025. They are investigating
the potential civil rights violations of
https://apnews.com/article/immigration-enforcement-minnesota-alex-pretti-renee-g
ood-21835226891f2a8d91710519b457031d protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement operations and of detained immigrants being
https://apnews.com/article/africa-us-deportations-trump-administration-98c1a5836
87c700333466dc25324b473. They have fought the
https://apnews.com/article/kennedy-center-trump-name-jfk-lawsuit-e2356978ea3881b
ee4a9ea2b2edd463a, launched investigations into
https://apnews.com/article/america250-freedom-250-trump-894f0f29a3d3d6020829a833
234e3e84 of the America at 250 celebrations and tracked the shuttering of
federal operations,
https://apnews.com/article/usaid-trump-foreign-aid-33d080076b133e6ba5ff687a0da07
221
New questions emerge daily, including the Trump family's
https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-jr-umar-kremlev-bettina-trump-wedding-ru
ssia-54b191b7d19ae09ab599ef5966523ab4 that a weekend wedding party for the
president's son Donald Trump Jr. was partly funded by a
https://apnews.com/article/trump-jr-wedding-investigation-republicans-58e809fc7d
913b72c9b5cf1261e7fef5, with reportedly close ties to the Kremlin.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who is in line to become the chairman of the
Judiciary Committee, characterized the issues involved as "gargantuan."
"We need to zero in quickly on the forms of systemic corruption that have
cost the public huge amounts of money," Raskin told The Associated Press, "and
where there are legislative cures available."
Trump impeachments made history then. Could it happen again?
Jeffries will almost certainly be under pressure from the far left to move
more swiftly to articles of impeachment against Trump, who during his first
term became the first president to be
https://apnews.com/article/trump-impeachment-vote-capitol-siege-0a6f2a348a6e43f2
7d5e1dc486027860 by the House.
https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-ap-top-news-elections-politics-election-
2020-d78192d45b176f73ad435ae9fb926ed3, he was acquitted by the Senate.
Impeaching the president a third time may not hold the currency that it once
did. Democrats will more likely focus their impeachment efforts on Cabinet
members. https://apnews.com/hub/pete-hegseth already faces
https://apnews.com/article/house-recess-johnson-massie-impeachment-hegseth-epste
in-3ace27e682dd85c0146df79189be119c from a Republican,
https://apnews.com/hub/thomas-massie, over his leadership at the Pentagon and
his management of the Iran war.
"We haven't ruled anything out," Jeffries said recently about the tools
available to Congress, "and we haven't ruled anything in."
The White House is likely to play hardball if confronted with
investigations, and Democrats are bracing for an administration that
potentially ignores subpoenas or refuses to turn over paperwork that lawmakers
are demanding.
The Democrats are also reaching beyond the administration into various
corporate and business entities for potential wrongdoing.
'We'll act like the Congress,' says one Democrat in line to lead a committee
Ranking Democratic lawmakers who are in line to lead committees if power
shifts are beginning to chart the investigations they plan to tackle.
Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat now on the Oversight and
Government Reform Committee, has outlined five priorities, including Trump
family
https://apnews.com/article/trump-financial-disclosure-crypto-060c15062b8fedc6104
159ea13775463, the administration's handling of the
https://apnews.com/hub/jeffrey-epstein investigation and
https://apnews.com/article/ice-detainee-locator-disappear-removal-orders-c3329a7
0bce424879bc5880b286c019c
"We're already doing work," Garcia told the AP.
He also mentioned the Department of Health and Human Services under
https://apnews.com/hub/robert-f-kennedy-jr, as well as broader allegations of
corporate corruption.
The top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Gregory Meeks
of New York, whose jurisdiction includes the State Department, said the
committee plans to investigate Trump's international dealings, including around
the https://apnews.com/hub/iran.
He expects the committee will also look into the administration's
https://apnews.com/article/trump-maduro-venezuela-drug-cartels-military-timeline
-91e242e5c56eec39b6b7d72bf55dbd2d -- from the
https://apnews.com/article/trump-cartels-military-strike-caribbean-8a3aead624d51
d2ec5a3885f3f148111 on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific waters
to the
https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-oil-trump-deal-unknown-questions-reserves-c
229bc39b6e1a3d5dd16f7f9e67fef3f to develop and access the South American
country's oil.
Rep. Jared Huffman of California, the ranking Democrat at the Natural
Resources Committee, which oversees the Interior Department and its National
Park Service operations, has begun digging into Trump's "vanity projects,"
including the demolition of the
https://apnews.com/article/trump-drone-port-white-house-ballroom-arch-d07e9a6ee1
48695de3872100b605398f and the president's
https://apnews.com/article/trump-arch-drones-snippers-national-security-ef9212f9
8c337a6a142b338c1861da97.
Huffman and other committee members have also been eyeing the Trump family's
role in various minerals deals.
At the committee's last session before lawmakers recessed to campaign for
the midterm elections, Huffman said that if Democrats take charge, he plans to
call witnesses, put them under oath and follow the evidence where it leads.
"When people ask what will we do," he said he responds, "My answer is
simple. We'll use those tools. We'll act like the Congress."
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