Rep. Elijah Cummings fired a warning shot Wednesday, saying he will continue several ongoing investigations into the Trump administration when he takes control of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee next year.
Cummings, D-Md., sent 51 letters to members of the administration and outside groups such as the Trump Organization to ask again for information already previously requested by House Republicans.
The letters covered issues such as the federal response to hurricanes, immigrant child separation, Trump security clearances and White House travel, misconduct at the Environmental Protection Agency, and possible violations of the Constitution’s emoluments clause by President Trump.
In each letter, Cummings warned, “I intend to continue this investigation in the next Congress.” He also criticized each agency and department recipient for ignoring requests that were made several months earlier, and in some cases more than a year ago.
“These are documents that even the Republicans on the Oversight Committee — at least at some point in time — believed we needed to conduct effective oversight, but when the Trump Administration refused to comply fully, the Republicans would not issue a single subpoena,” Cummings said in a statement. “Many of these requests were bipartisan, and some are now more than a year old. As Democrats prepare to take the reins in Congress, we are insisting — as a basic first step — that the Trump administration and others comply with these Republican requests.”
The effort shows Democrats are preparing to keep up the pressure on Trump through the investigative powers they’ll inherit once they hold the majority in the House.
A majority of the requests had already been done by the GOP in power. Each of the letters asks that the recipients comply with Cummings’ requests by Jan. 11.
Late last month, a Democratic aide on the committee explained to the Washington Examiner that Cummings was ready to pounce on the Trump administration come January.
