Republicans, Trump may rue this 2015 rule change if Democrats flip the House

Trump shakes hands with Rep. Devin Nunes, with Rep. Kevin McCarthy looking on

(Image credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)

published 29 October 2018

Democrats have a roughly 85 percent chance of taking control of the House, FiveThirtyEight predicted early Monday, but there's no guarantee Republicans won't hold on with that remaining 15 percent. The "blue wave" could still crash into the "political seawall" of partisan gerrymandering "erected by Republicans who controlled the redistricting process in more states than Democrats after the 2010 census," The Associated Press reminded everyone Sunday. But assuming they do win the House, Democrats will have a powerful tool Republicans created for them in 2015, Politico reports:

House Republicans changed the rules in 2015 to allow many of their committee chairmen to issue subpoenas without consulting the minority party, overriding Democrats objections that likened the tactic to something out of the McCarthy era. Now the weapon that the GOP wielded dozens of times against President Barack Obama's agencies could allow Democrats to bombard President Donald Trump's most controversial appointees with demands for information. And many Democrats are itching to use it. [Politico]

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), for example, told Politico, "The Republicans have set the standard and, by God, we're going to emulate that standard." Some Democrats told Politico they would be hesitant to use the unilateral subpoena process against the Republicans who weaponized it, Politico notes, but "oversight would be one of the few concrete goals that Democrats could accomplish with control of only one chamber of Congress and Trump still in the White House," and "they have a long list of potential targets, including likely demands for Trump's tax returns and probes into Cabinet members such as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke" — assuming they're still in Trump's Cabinet.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.