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."