Democrats take the House. Here’s what they plan to investigate and their legislative agenda
"Lawyer up," the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee said.
Democrats will take control of the House of Representatives, according to an ABC News projection, putting Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on track to make history as the first Black Speaker of the House when the new Congress is seated in January.
So, what's next? Democrats have signaled that they will pursue both a legislative agenda and investigative track that they say aims to restore a congressional check and balance against the executive branch.
Legislative priorities: Healthcare, prices, tariffs
Jeffries has said Democrats would harness the political capital of a new majority to reinstate expired Affordable Care Act health care premium subsidies and reverse nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts that were included in the president's signature domestic policy law, the Working Families Tax Cuts Act.
"Well, Day One plan is going to be to make sure we're going to be focused on healthcare, focused on driving down, right, the high price of groceries and gas and housing," Jeffries told ABC News' Capitol Hill correspondent Jay O'Brien during a sit-down interview in Nebraska ahead of the election.
House Democrats have also indicated they will quickly consider legislation to end Trump's global tariffs and restore congressional power over trade policy.
As American voters send a signal to lawmakers rejecting the status quo, Democrats also promise to act to end the war in Iran and also plan to focus on addressing the "affordability crisis" they blame on failed Republican policies -- promising to lower the cost of groceries, healthcare and gas.
"House Democrats will be united around the effort to reverse the Medicaid cuts and extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits right out of the gate as part of our effort to fix a broken health care system that Republicans are actively destroying, and then we'll have to take on the battle of reversing the reckless war of choice that has skyrocketed gas prices on the American people and is deeply unpopular throughout the country, we'll have to battle the administration," Jeffries told reporters last month.
Oversight and investigations: Epstein, Trump family, immigration
Democratic-led House committees are expected to simultaneously launch several investigations into the Trump administration and use their subpoena power if necessary to compel testimony and document production.
"I think we've demonstrated in this Congress an ability to both aggressively push back against the administration and their extremism, whenever and wherever possible, while at the same time trying to get things done in the best interest of the American people," Jeffries told reporters earlier this month.
Jeffries said a focus of committees' investigations will be corruption allegations.
"There is a cost to corruption," Jeffries told reporters. "Pardons are apparently being paid for in exchange for turning a blind eye to corporate offenses, or in some instances, contributions apparently are being made in exchange for governmental actions that are taken that ultimately result in making life more expensive for the American people. These are all things that are going to need to be thoroughly investigated as part of our pledge to hold the crooks accountable, beginning on day one."
Attorney General Todd Blanche dismissed Democrats' accusations of "pay to play" regarding pardons as a non-issue during a Senate hearing in June.
"Look, the power to pardon in our Constitution is given to the President of the United States," Blanche testified. "The Constitution does not require him to provide any explanation for who he chooses to pardon or not pardon, or commute or not commute."
ABC News has reached out to the White House to ask if the Trump administration intends to cooperate with Democratic oversight requests from Capitol Hill.
House Oversight Committee
In a two-word statement released late Tuesday after the Democrats were projected to take control of the House, Rep. Robert Garcia, the presumptive chairman of the House Oversight Committee, stated: "Lawyer up."
Garcia has previously laid out a number of priorities in interviews.
Handling of the Epstein files: As it relates to the Epstein investigation, Garcia has said that he wants to hold public hearings, which would replace the interviews that occurred behind closed doors when Republicans were in control.
Garcia has previously said he wants to subpoena Attorney General Todd Blanche over the Department of Justice’s handling of the Epstein files and the pages that were withheld. Sources have told ABC News that the committee is expected to request the testimony of other White House officials as well.
Business dealings: Garcia is expected to seek to interview Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner along with other Trump family members about their alleged business dealings.
DHS and ICE: The killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by immigration agents in Minneapolis and use of force against U.S. citizens.
Alleged corporate corruption: Garcia has said he plans to investigate corporate donors to the White House ballroom, no-bid contracts like the Reflecting Pool contractor and companies he has said are “ripping off” the American public.
House Judiciary Committee
Rep. Jamie Raskin, the presumptive chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has said he plans to investigate everything from the Trump family businesses to what he called the politicization of the DOJ and FBI and anti-trust issues like corporate mergers.
Politicization of DOJ and the FBI: Raskin intends to probe the attempted prosecutions and investigations of President Trump’s perceived political enemies, including former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James and John Brennan, the former director of the CIA. Raskin will focus on the firings of career prosecutors and the decisions surrounding the administration’s $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization fund.”
Pardons for sale (“pardon industrial complex”): Raskin intends to probe pay-to-play allegations surrounding the president’s clemency powers.
Immigration/ICE: Joint work with Oversight and Homeland Security Democrats on ICE conduct.
Jeffrey Epstein: Ongoing probes into whether Epstein acted as an unregistered agent for foreign governments; Ghislaine Maxwell’s alleged special treatment in prison; and how Epstein allegedly used his university ties.
House Armed Services Committee
Rep. Adam Smith, the committee's top Democrat since 2010 and presumptive chairman, has pledged more intense oversight of the Pentagon and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's leadership. In May, Smith told Bloomberg Government that he wants "more transparency on what the Pentagon is up to, more transparency on what the war plans are in Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, and with the boat strikes."
The Iran war and its cost: Smith intends to probe the decision to go to war with Iran, launched Feb. 28 without congressional authorization and the administration’s shifting justification.
Casualties and conduct of the war: The committee will likely probe U.S. service member deaths and injuries and civilian casualties.
Boat strikes: The committee is also expected to probe the strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean.
Hegseth’s management of the Pentagon: The firing of senior military leaders, a concern raised by members of the committee on both sides of the aisle. Smith also intends to probe the administration’s defense budget.
The House Homeland Security and Education and Workforce committees are also expected to hold oversight heraings.
What about impeachment?
Jeffries told ABC News' Jay O'Brien ahead of the election: "Well, we haven't ruled anything in, and we haven't ruled anything out because we've made clear that we're focused on addressing the affordability crisis."
But it's clear that Democrats are eager to hold the president accountable for some of his actions during his last two years in the White House.
Raskin, poised to be Judiciary Chairman, told Punchbowl that impeachment is a tool.
"It's a critical tool in the constitutional toolbox, and we will not hesitate to use it if we think that the benefits exceed the costs," he said. "But the one thing everybody's well aware of is that impeachment trials and impeachment motions soak up a lot of energy and oxygen."
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