Democrats will make aggressive use of their oversight powers and investigate the Trump administration if they retake the House majority, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) said in an interview that aired Monday on “Rising.”
“When the Framers designed the Constitution, they wanted checks and balances, and if Democrats took back the House, we would be able to exercise oversight over the executive branch the way the Framers intended,” Lieu, who sits on the House Judiciary Committee, told Hill.TV in an interview taped earlier this month.
“We would be able to get Donald Trump’s tax returns to see if he’s being influenced by foreign entities,” said Lieu, a strident critic of President Trump’s who frequently blasts the president on social media.
“We can call in the secretary of Homeland Security [to] ask her why she still has hundreds of children she has not reunited that she ripped away from parents at the border. There are a lot of things that we can do with our oversight responsibility,” he said.
Democrats have a strong shot at retaking the House after the Nov. 6 midterms, as dozens of GOP-held seats are considered toss-ups or leaning toward Democrats.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee ranking member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) also told Hill.TV earlier this month that his committee would investigate the Trump administration if they win the House.
“I want to look at what President Trump has done, aided and abetted by the Republicans in Congress, to tear down the foundations of our democracy,” said Cummings, who would likely become chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee if Democrats take back the House.
— Julia Manchester
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