The Democrats in line to lead House and Senate committees after the party’s takeover of Congress in January have outlined plans to investigate President Donald Trump’s administration, his family’s business dealings, and companies that have done business with the White House.
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), who is set to chair the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, responded on Nov. 3 to the results with a two-word statement: “Lawyer up.”
In the Senate, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the expected chair of the Banking Committee, said on Nov. 8 that companies making “profits by cheating American families and scamming … investors” should “get ready for some investigations, serious ones.”
The president and his attorney general have answered with warnings of their own. Trump wrote in a Nov. 7 Truth Social post that Democrats’ threats amount to “extortion at the highest level,” and that he was ordering the Justice Department to look into them.
With majorities in both chambers, Democrats will control committee budgets and staff and will have the power to issue subpoenas for documents and testimony. The new Congress convenes on Jan. 3.
House Oversight: Miller, Musk, and the Trump Family
Garcia gave the most detailed account of his plans in a Nov. 8 interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
He said the committee will investigate Stephen Miller, whom Trump named White House chief of staff on Nov. 6, replacing Susie Wiles.
Garcia called Miller the architect of a “horrific, unjust” immigration policy and alleged that he has been at the center of actions that are “unconstitutional, unjust, and possibly illegal.” In a statement after the appointment, Garcia said Miller “should lawyer up.”
Garcia said on CNN that a Miller investigation could cover an immigration policy that he said “separates families,” the detention of immigrants “where a few large companies are profiting,” and “the way that folks are losing their due process rights.”
“That has to be investigated,” he said.
Garcia added on CNN that members of the Trump family “should be expected to answer questions.”
He said Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, are possible subjects of investigations. Garcia also said Democrats want to know if donors to the White House ballroom project received favors in return, and he cited what he alleged to be pay-to-play pardons for billionaires and donors.
He said there is interest across several committees in hearing from Elon Musk about firing of federal workers linked to government spending reviews conducted by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which the Tesla CEO formerly led. DOGE, created by Trump when he returned to the White House to target what he called fraud, waste, and abuse in federal spending, officially ceased operations in July.
House Judiciary: Pardons and Tariffs
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee and in line to chair it, said in a Nov. 4 interview with “Here & Now” on WBUR in Boston that Democrats will have to “triage” what he called corruption in the executive branch and go after the most immediate threats to Americans’ quality of life.
He said that this does not conflict with the party’s push on affordability. “We’re just going to have to go law by law, department by department, to turn it around,” Raskin said.
He cited tariffs, alleging that Trump has granted exemptions to people who come to him for relief. Committee Democrats opened an investigation into those exemptions before the election. In an August staff report, Judiciary Democrats alleged that Trump’s pardons have erased nearly $1.7 billion in restitution, fines, and forfeitures owed to the investors, employees, and others the pardoned defendants defrauded, and taxpayers.
Other House Committees
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, hassaid the panel plans to investigate Trump’s international dealings, including the war with Iran.
Committee Democrats demanded in March that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, War Secretary Pete Hegseth, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Kushner testify about the war.
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, hasbegun looking into what he criticized as Trump’s “vanity projects,” including the White House ballroom and a proposed triumphal arch to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary. Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, has promised “vigorous oversight” of the Pentagon.
The Senate
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who is expected to become majority leader, said at a Nov. 4 press conference that “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.”
Schumer said costs come first. “If we just did corruption, we’d be a loser,” he told The New York Times’ “The Daily” on Nov. 6, according to a transcript his office released. “You got to do some but not let it overshadow and take away what we can do on costs.” He said Democrats must look into “the most egregious examples of corruption.”
Warren said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that Democrats will pursue both legislation and investigations. Asked whom she would target, she said, “Anyone who’s been cheating.” She said Americans are tired of a White House that she alleged dropped enforcement against companies that gave to Trump’s ballroom project.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who is expected to chair the Homeland Security Committee’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, said his panel will look into Trump’s real estate projects around Washington and his cryptocurrency dealings with Witkoff, who partnered with the Trump family on World Liberty Financial.
He also wants hearings on immigration raids, DOGE, and Medicare plans.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), in line to chair the Finance Committee, said in a Nov. 4 statement that banks “that helped cover up Epstein’s crimes” and pharmaceutical company CEOs “that price gouge while enjoying Trump’s hand-delivered windfalls” will be “forced to answer to the Senate Finance Committee.”
Not every Senate Democrat wants a sweeping approach. Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said that Democrats “can’t turn this into just a vengeance tour.”
“We have to be careful, cautious and judicious about that,” he said.
Former Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.), who won a Republican-held seat in 2018 during Trump’s first term, said in a statement provided to The Epoch Times that Democrats should investigate alleged misconduct and self-enrichment in the administration. He also left the door open to holding Hegseth accountable if the evidence supports it.
Cunningham warned that impeachment proceedings can quickly consume the “political oxygen” and pull attention from voters’ top concerns. “The objective has to be accountability, not simply another political spectacle. Affordability has to remain the north star,” he said in the statement.
Impeachment
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who is expected to become speaker, said on ABC’s “This Week” on Nov. 8 that he is a “hard yes” on a resolution to impeach Hegseth that Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) plans to reintroduce. Jeffries alleged that Hegseth “abused his power, undermined our national security and engineered this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran,” according to remarks released by his office. He said House Democrats would discuss the resolution when they reconvene on Nov. 10.
Two days earlier, Jeffries said of Hegseth on NPR, “He’s got to go,” but said he did not want to “get out ahead of the caucus” on impeachment.
Schumer told “The Daily” that Hegseth should be fired and impeached. Asked whether he wants Trump impeached, he said, “That’s going to be up to the House.”
Hegseth called the effort “sham articles of impeachment” in a post on X.
Raskin told WBUR that Democrats have not announced plans to impeach the president. “It’s not a taboo for us, but it’s not a fetish for us,” he said.
The Administration Responds
In his Nov. 7 post on Truth Social, Trump said that Democrats are threatening officials, including the attorney general, with impeachment and threatening Republican donors with imprisonment.
He called it “Weaponization and Lawfare at another level.”
“By copy of this statement, I am ordering the Department of Justice to look into this criminal act, immediately!” the president wrote.
On CNN, Blanche said that Democrats’ talk of going after Cabinet members, impeachments, and private companies “is not oversight,” though he said he welcomes oversight. He said the Justice Department would defend Miller and would represent Hegseth if he were impeached. “If you work in this administration, you have a lawyer. It’s me,” Blanche also said on Sunday in separate remarks.
White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said in a statement to The Epoch Times that President Donald Trump is “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,” she said.
A White House official added that Democrats who “abuse their power and politicize their process of investigations, subpoenas, and destroying lives … should be reminded that we still control the federal government and all of its powers.”
The Trump Organization, Garcia, Raskin, and Jeffries did not respond to requests for comment from The Epoch Times before publication.
Jack Phillips, Ryan Morgan, Reuters, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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