On Tuesday night, the eight-year Republican reign in the House of Representatives came to a screeching halt. Democrats rode the anti-Trump sentiment in suburbia to flip 31 seats from red to blue, kicking out a few senior GOP incumbents in the process.
But as the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility. As the new sheriffs in town, Democratic lawmakers need to find a way to exercise effective oversight over the Trump administration while avoiding the electoral consequences that often accompany overzealousness.
Democrats wasted no time telling the country what they plan to do with their new power. After years of seeing their subpoena requests blocked and their complaints callously dismissed, Democrats are chomping at the bit to use their newfound leverage to (metaphorically speaking) put President Trump’s head on a pike. A Democratic-majority House will now have the power to launch any investigation it deems necessary. Soon-to-be Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., will likely subpoena witnesses outgoing Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., refused to question during the course of his own inquiry on Russian interference in the 2016 election. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., who will become the next Judiciary Committee chairman, has already sent a letter to the Justice Department demanding more information on the firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions. And Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the dogged Democratic investigator who will soon take the gavel on the Oversight Committee, will place Trump’s immigration policy in his sights.
Democrats won the midterm elections fair and square, and to the victors go the spoils. Senior congressmen like Schiff, Nadler, and Cummings have the inalienable right to conduct oversight on any topic that falls within their committee’s jurisdiction. Indeed, not taking their oversight responsibilities seriously would be a dereliction of duty and should be looked upon as grounds for dismissal; Congress is, after all, the chief overseer of the federal government.
However, there is a big difference between launching investigations in order to hold officials accountable and engaging in retribution to quench one’s thirst for political advantage. Much of what Congress does, of course, is political. But making the government work more efficiently and probing misuse, abuse, or incompetence are far too important to be weighed down by accusations of political showmanship or bias.
Democrats need only ask their GOP colleagues about what can happen when they misuse their subpoena and investigatory power. Americans are fully supportive of accountability, but they generally don’t take too kindly to inquiries that are drawn out or empowered by partisan score-settling. Republicans have learned this the hard way, both in 1998 (when voters became tired of the numerous probes of President Bill Clinton, costing Newt Gingrich his speakership) and during the 2.5-year Benghazi investigation. The former resulted in an electoral disappointment for the GOP, while the latter was an unambiguous disappointment that cost $7 million.
If Democrats want to actually serve the country, they ought to treat oversight as the sacred cow the public expects. If they hope to use their majority to beat Trump over the head on every conceivable issue to embarrass him in time for the presidential campaign season, the party shouldn’t be pitied when the repercussions start piling up.
Daniel DePetris (@DanDePetris) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. His opinions are his own.
