House Democrats are preparing a sweeping slate of investigations into President Donald Trump, his family and his administration if the party retakes control of the chamber in November, with senior lawmakers already identifying potential targets and laying the groundwork for subpoenas and hearings.
Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who is in line to chair the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the likely chairman of the Oversight Committee, said this week that Democrats are preparing for a broad oversight campaign that could extend well beyond the midterm elections and help shape the party’s case against Republicans heading into the 2028 presidential race, according to Politico.
“We are going to be looking at systems of bribery, kickback and financial corruption and opportunities for disgorgement and restitution to the American people,” Raskin said. “That would be No. 1.”
Raskin has previously called for major changes to America’s democratic institutions in order to consolidate power. He likely would have been Kamala Harris’s attorney general.
Among the matters Democrats are considering are Trump’s acceptance of a Qatari jet intended for use as a new Air Force One and the Trump family’s cryptocurrency ventures. Raskin also said the Judiciary Committee could examine what he called “fraudulent and vindictive prosecutions,” including cases involving former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Garcia, meanwhile, has said he wants to revisit the congressional investigation of Jeffrey Epstein, arguing that the Republican-led inquiry has left unanswered questions surrounding the late convicted sex offender.
White House spokesperson Olivia Wales dismissed the plans, saying the president “will continue to draw a sharp contrast with his commonsense agenda and radical Democrats who want to massively raise taxes, defund the police, and are soft on crime.”
The preparations resemble the approach Democrats took before the 2018 midterm elections, when lawmakers quietly planned investigations while publicly playing down the possibility of impeachment. After winning the House, Democrats launched a series of investigations into Trump and his administration and ultimately impeached him twice during his first term. The Senate acquitted him both times.
This time, Democrats appear less reluctant to discuss impeachment before voters decide control of Congress.
“Nobody on the Democratic side is afraid of impeachment,” Raskin said, calling it simply “a tool in the toolbox.”
Whether Democrats would pursue impeachment would depend on what their investigations uncover and the political circumstances after the election. But if the party wins the House, investigations of Trump and his administration are already shaping up to become one of the central features of the next Congress — and potentially a major part of the Democratic political strategy heading into 2028.
