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]
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