After the Democratic Party won control of Congress, Associated Press said this will reshape the remainder of President Donald Trump's term as the door is now open for investigations and impeachments.
According to Associated Press (AP), Rep. Robert Garcia (D-California), leader of Oversight and Government Reform Committee, plans to look into Trump administration's investigation of Jeffrey Epstein and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations.
Meanwhile, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) of the Natural Resources Committee is investigation Trump's construction projects like the While House ballroom.
Both are looking into business dealing of the Trump family.
In response to calls from Democratic lawmakers urging administration officials to "lawyer up" and prepare for subpoenas, legal expert Jenna Ellis outlined the scope and limits of congressional authority on American Family Radio (AFR)'s "Today's Issues" program.
"When we're talking about congressional oversight, this is not about criminal prosecutions because Congress doesn't have that authority. But they do have broad oversight authority derived from Article One... The Supreme Court has recognized that... they have implied power to investigate and compel testimony in aid of legislation," Ellis explains. "Also, Congress has the power of impeachment."
Ellis cautioned that while Congress cannot directly prosecute crimes, oversight committees are expected to target administrative policies and financial dealings to lay groundwork for potential state-level probes or legislative impeachments.
However, according to AP, Sen.-elect Adam Hilton is hesitant about impeachment proceedings because he doesn't want to further divided the country. And Democrat-leaning Sen. Bernie Sanders warns against spending all their time going after Trump when they should be standing up for working-class families.
AFN recently published an op-ed by Suzanne Bowdey of The Washington Stand, where she said that the Democrat win was a double-edged sword as the leftist party lacks "vision and direction."
"For the last decade, the Left’s entire strategy has been running on anti-Trump hatred. They exhausted that playbook Tuesday. Now the American people, who graciously elected progressives without a coherent agenda, will eventually want to know what’s next," Bowdey wrote.
She questions whether Democrats will focus on legislation or investigations, noting it will be more beneficial for Democrats to address voter concerns, but they will most likely overplay their hand with their new power.
