backSenate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) recently sent an impassioned letter to his Democratic colleagues regarding efforts to “confront the Trump Administration’s assault on American families,” including through aggressive oversight. The Minority Leader asserted that Democrats would use every tool at their disposal to push back, despite minority-party restraints on their investigative authority in the 119th Congress.
In addition to citing the “hundreds of oversight inquiries from our committees and members” already underway, Schumer previewed, in detail, specific investigative actions to be taken by the Democrats, including:
- Independent “spotlight” hearings and other events to highlight key issues and conduct minority-led oversight;
- Public demand letters and record preservation notices; and
- A new Whistleblower Portal for federal civil service employees and public servants.
Schumer’s letter is notable, but not surprising. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) also released a similar Dear Colleague letter calling for “all hands on deck” and announcing the creation of a “Rapid Response Task Force and Litigation Working Group” to “protect and defend everyday Americans from the harm being inflicted by this administration.”
While Democrats no longer wield the gavel in the Senate or the House and have lost the broad investigative authorities enjoyed by the majority party, historically Democrats have remained active, strategically using their platform and the press to highlight key priorities and conduct extensive oversight as the minority party. This alert summarizes recent efforts by Democratic committee leaders, despite limited investigative authority, to respond to the unprecedented flurry of executive orders issued by President Trump since taking office.
BROAD INVESTIGATIVE AUTHORITY OF CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES
Congressional committees have broad investigative authorities and, unlike law enforcement investigations and criminal prosecutions, operate under relatively few rules addressing their investigative scope or methods. Major investigative decisions fall squarely within the discretion of the committee chair, which could include the issuance of subpoenas to compel witness testimony and the production of documents and information. Committee chairs also commonly announce subpoenas with a press release to apply additional pressure and advance their objectives in a venue that has very few confidentiality or other protections.
In the House of Representatives, most standing committee chairs have the authority to issue subpoenas unilaterally after providing notice to the minority party’s ranking member. On the Senate side, more committee chairs than ever before have received or are seeking unilateral subpoena authority. In the 118th Congress, only the chair of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) had authority to issue subpoenas unilaterally; in the 119th Congress the PSI chair and the chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee have the authority to issue subpoenas unilaterally, and others are reportedly attempting to follow suit, including Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-TX). 1Cruz Seeks Unilateral Subpoena Power as Senate Commerce Chair, Punchbowl News (Jan. 24, 2025), available here.Other Senate committee chairs may issue subpoenas only with the agreement of the ranking minority member or by majority vote of the committee. Therefore, with congressional oversight committees under Republican control, Democrats have far less leverage in compelling cooperation from Executive Branch or private-sector investigative targets, but they are already signaling efforts to work around their limited authority. 2Democrats Flood the Zone with Acts of Anti-Trump Resistance, Axios (Feb. 3, 2025), available here.
DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE LEADERS RAMP UP EXECUTIVE BRANCH OVERSIGHT, DESPITE MINORITY ROLE
In spite of their limited authority, congressional Democrats have continued to conduct active and aggressive oversight targeting the Trump Administration through written investigative demands,3E&C Democratic Leaders Investigate Trump Administration’s Illegal Efforts to Freeze Federal Funding, U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Press Release, (Feb. 5, 2025), available here; Wyden Demands Answers Following Report of Musk Personnel Seeking Access to Highly Sensitive U.S. Treasury Payments System, U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, Press Release (Jan. 31, 2025), available here public record preservation requests,4Whitehouse Demands EPA Fully Comply with Document Preservation Laws, U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Press Release (Feb. 13, 2025), available here.and even resolutions of inquiry. 5For more on resolutions of inquiry, please see: Resolutions of Inquiry in the House, Congressional Research Service (July 21, 2022), available here.For example, on February 12, 2025, House Ways & Means Committee Democrats introduced a resolution of inquiry into the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and “Elon Musk’s hostile takeover of Treasury’s payment systems.” 6Doggett, Ways and Means Democrats Give the Executive Branch 14 Days to Provide Information on DOGE’s Unlawful Access to Treasury’s Payment Systems, U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means, Press Release (Feb. 12, 2025), available hereWhile resolutions of inquiry are given special “parliamentary status” under the Rules of the House, if adopted, they are not legally enforceable like committee-issued subpoenas. 7Resolutions of Inquiry in the House, Congressional Research Service (July 21, 2022), available here.
Without the ability to convene formal committee hearings, historically the minority party committee leaders have promoted public roundtables and panel discussions as alternative means to spotlight and prioritize key oversight issues in the face of Majority opposition. For example, on February 4, 2025, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee Ranking Member Steny Hoyer (D-MD) co-hosted a roundtable with federal employee groups to “coordinate action on the Trump Administration’s unprecedented and dangerous attacks on the federal workforce.”8Hoyer, Connolly, Civil Service Organizations Coordinate United Front Against Co-President’s Trump and Musk’s Attacks on the Federal Workforce, U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Press Release (February 4, 2025), available here.Senate Democrats have also established a Whistleblower Portal and committee tiplines that may present opportunities to highlight testimony and/or information obtained from current and former federal agency employees or others in the private sector at future roundtable events.
In addition to holding independent roundtables, panels, rallies, 9At CFPB Headquarters, Warren Sounds Alarm on Elon Musk’s Attack against Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Press Release (Feb. 10, 2025), available here.and other public events, Democrats have used committee hearings and confirmation hearings scheduled by the majority to question, and in some cases, extract commitments on the record from Executive Branch witnesses. At a February 12, 2025 hearing for example, House Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA) secured a commitment from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to hold a briefing on the current status of the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI). 10Ranking Member Maxine Waters Leads Democratic Members in Urging Financial Services Agencies to Defy Trump’s Illegal Anti-DEIA Order and Uphold Legally Mandated Efforts, U.S. House Committee on Financial Services, Press Release (Feb. 14, 2025), available here.
Congressional committees, subcommittees, and Members can also formally request investigations by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and by the various agency and department Inspectors General (IGs). Considered to be the “congressional watchdog,” GAO acts as “an independent, non-partisan agency that works for Congress” and conducts investigations, audits, and evaluations in response to congressional requests. The IGs, given their statutory obligation to “keep the Congress fully and currently informed,” also work with Congress on many issues and generally decide whether to conduct a congressionally requested investigation on a case-by-case basis. Despite the challenges created by President Trump’s dismissal of 18 IGs and the related ongoing litigation 11Government Watchdogs Fired by Trump Sue to Get Their Jobs Back, CNN Politics (Feb. 12, 2025), available here., House and Senate Democrats have sent multiple letters requesting IG investigations across various agencies and departments. Notably, on February 14, 2025, Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) announced that both GAO and the Treasury Inspector General had agreed to investigate Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s reported decision to grant DOGE employees access to federal government payment systems. 12Warren, Wyden Secure Independent Treasury and Congressional Watchdog Investigations into DOGE’s Unprecedented Access to the Federal Government's Payment Systems, Press Release, U.S. Senate Committee on Banking (Feb. 14, 2025), available here.
CONCLUSION
Responding to a congressional inquiry — from either the majority or minority party — involves unique challenges that differ from litigating or navigating a regulatory action. The Trump White House and Executive Branch will continue to receive concerted congressional oversight from Democrats, as will government contractors and other corporate entities that engage regularly with the Administration. At the same time, as noted in our December 10, 2024 and January 15, 2025 alerts, Republican-led oversight committees will continue to leverage their broad investigative authority in pursuing their own priorities. While building their oversight agenda now, Democratic leadership are already eying the 2026 midterm elections as they look to regain committee gavels and wrest control of the congressional hearing and investigative agenda from Republicans.
Anticipating and proactively planning for key oversight committees’ priority areas of focus during the 119th Congress is critical for private-sector stakeholders to be prepared and ready to respond strategically when congressional attention shifts in their direction.
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