Subpoena power is the one tool House Democrats lack today. They are building their case files now so they can use it the moment they get it.
Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., has spelled out why the majority matters.
Controlling the House Energy and Commerce Committee, she has stressed, would give Democrats an authority that the minority party cannot exercise.
Lawmakers who could take over key committees under a Democratic majority say the groundwork is already underway.
They are picking targets, collecting documents, talking to whistleblowers and sending requests for information.
The goal is to start investigating immediately if voters hand the party control of the chamber in November.
The list of subjects is long.
It covers the business interests of the Trump family, the Jeffrey Epstein files, immigration enforcement, Pentagon contracting, Health and Human Services policy and the conduct of senior administration officials.
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, has not been shy about where he would start. He gave reporters his top three.
“One is going to be the Trump family corruption. The second will be the Jeffrey Epstein investigation. Third will be ICE and DHS and the corruption happening there,” Garcia said.
His agenda goes further. Garcia said his committee would also examine corporations or executives that Democrats believe may have benefited improperly from government policies.
He said it would look at changes to federal vaccine policy under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as well.
Garcia has also said Trump himself could be called to testify in the committee’s Epstein investigation. Epstein was a convicted sex offender.
The Washington Post reported in March that Garcia said Democrats would “absolutely” seek an interview with Trump on the subject if they gain subpoena power.
Trump has said he knew Epstein socially in Palm Beach decades ago and that the two later had a falling-out. He has denied knowing about Epstein’s criminal conduct.
Across the Capitol complex, the House Judiciary Committee would likely fall to Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., under a Democratic majority.
Raskin has already opened several inquiries touching the president’s relatives and administration.
Some of those inquiries target the business dealings of Jared Kushner and Donald Trump Jr. Raskin has requested information about Trump Jr.’s association with the investment firm 1789 Capital.
The firm has pushed back forcefully. It accuses Raskin of making inaccurate claims and of running a politically motivated investigation.
Judiciary Committee Democrats have said they will continue to examine the company’s dealings.
The Pentagon is another early stop.
Democratic lawmakers have questioned defense financing and contracts involving businesses with ties to Trump family members, and Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., says the Defense Department is where he would begin if his party wins the House.
“There are very disturbing reports about ties between defense money and appropriations programs, and requests by the White House to funnel defense spending to certain companies linked to the Trump family,” Crow told Fox News Digital.
“We’re going to take a hard look at all of that.”
The Pentagon has previously said its investment office is committed to ethical standards and to avoiding conflicts of interest.
Companies and individuals involved in the investments have disputed any suggestion that federal decisions were improperly influenced.
Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee have discussed investigations of Kennedy’s handling of vaccines, Medicaid policy and prescription-drug initiatives.
Immigration enforcement sits on the list too.
Democrats have sharply criticized the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement over detention practices, enforcement operations and the use of federal personnel.
The Democratic statements describe allegations and areas of interest. They are not established findings of wrongdoing.
The White House and Trump allies have repeatedly rejected the corruption accusations and have characterized many of the proposed investigations as politically motivated.
