Rep. Robert Garcia of California, who will chair the House Oversight Committee next Congress, laid out four areas where the panel will focus its investigative efforts.
The overarching investigations include the Trump family’s business dealings, corporate corruption, actions of the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
“I think folks that need to be concerned first are administration officials that have caused real harm. We’re going to investigate the abuses,” Garcia said at a news conference Wednesday, singling out Stephen Miller, Corey Lewandowski, Kristi Noem and Trump family members.
Garcia acknowledged the Justice Department is unlikely to prosecute people who refuse to cooperate, but said House Democrats could sue in civil court.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, meanwhile, called the midterms a “generational remake of the Senate map,” but said his party’s most important task is to respond to the mandate from voters by “prov[ing] ourselves worthy of their trust.”
Previewing the party’s plans starting next year, the minority leader said: “Whenever Trump defies the will of the American people or the law, we will launch investigations, take him to court, and entangle him in legislative razor wire.”
Many congressional Democrats are likely to be enthusiastic about investigating the Trump administration. But one moderate incoming Democratic senator, Adam Hamilton of Kansas, told CBS News he wants to spend more time on cost-of-living and other issues than investigations or impeachments, saying: “I do not want to spend the next two years in trials.”
Asked about the potential for Democrat-led investigations, White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said: “As the President has said, he’s willing to work with anyone to continue delivering victories for hardworking Americans. If Democrats choose to pursue sham investigations and radical left policies, they are choosing to work against the American people.”
