The Trump administration is preparing for House Democrats to be a constant thorn in its side for the for the next two years, launching investigations into the president, his family, and members of his administration.
House Republicans have been able to shield the president from inquiring Democratic minds. But now that the House is changing hands, the president’s allies will have less power to stop Democrats, which signals trouble for the Trump administration.
Armed with congressional subpoena power, House Democrats are expected to investigate everything from the president’s real-estate holdings and unreleased tax returns to his hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels to his termination of former FBI Director James Comey to any potential ties between himself, his associates and Russia.
And it isn’t solely the president. Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump’s use of private email for White House purposes, his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s respective business dealings, his cabinet secretary travel, and his administration’s policies on immigration, health care and education are all areas Democrats are showing interest in probing.
In conversations with the Washington Examiner, those working within the administration say that everyone, including the president, realizes the potential roadblocks a House under Democratic leadership could throw up over the next two years. Some pointed to the president’s last-minute immigration fight before Congress changes hands as evidence. Others have noted that incoming White House council Pat Cipollone is expected to hire some two-dozen attorneys to deal with the workload expected to stem from the House investigations.
Trump, meanwhile, defiantly warned Dems that “two can play at that game.”
“If the Democrats think they are going to waste Taxpayer Money investigating us at the House level, then we will likewise be forced to consider investigating them for all of the leaks of Classified Information, and much else, at the Senate level. Two can play that game!” the president tweeted in November.
As the administration remains outwardly confident, expressing willingness to work across the aisle, former administration officials and sources close to the White House who spoke to the Washington Examiner paint a different picture. They argue that White House officials underestimate the ability of Democratic inquiries to derail a presidential agenda.
Facing congressional subpoenas, document requests and requests for administration officials to appear before committees, House Democrats are guaranteed to make it difficult for the White House to control the message and promote the president’s “America First” policies. The concern is that even if the administration scores a policy win, like infrastructure, having an official appear before a committee to give sworn testimony will get the media coverage and “suck all the oxygen out of the room.”
“I think they are certainly not prepared for the death by a thousand cuts that is almost undoubtedly coming from Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats,” one source close to the administration told the Washington Examiner. “They are going to take every little thing they can take and use it against the president and the administration. Where it will have the biggest effect is it will derail their ability to communicate their policies or get coverage on their policies.”
[Related: House Democratic plan: Challenge Whitaker, protect Mueller, investigate Sessions firing]
The other major concern is that Trump, in trying to cut deals with Democrats in the name of bipartisanship, will alienate his base and hurt both his and Republicans’ chances of winning in 2020.
“A bipartisan deal on criminal justice reform isn’t going to cause any angst for Trump’s base. Where he can’t afford to back down is on issues where conservatives have an emotional attachment, like guns, immigration, and taxes,” a source close to the administration said. “Those are all red line issues for Trump voters. If he crosses those red lines, the blow back could be very strong. There is a risk that he gets pushed into some deals on immigration on taxes and spending that could have an adverse effects.”
Despite having control of the White House and both chambers of Congress, the president and Republicans have not been able to deliver on a the majority of their major 2016 campaign platforms. Trying to secure major policy victories while facing an energized Democratic House conference won’t do the president any favors heading into the 2020 election cycle.
As another former official put it, they are “woefully unprepared.”
