House Democrats rolled out a package Wednesday to strengthen Congress’ oversight authority and curb executive powers, taking another legislative shot at President Trump ahead of the looming November election.
Unveiled by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, and several of her top committee chairs, the wide-ranging package includes provisions that would require campaigns to publicly report any attempts or offers of foreign assistance and shores up the weight of Congressional subpoenas in the courts.
Democrats touted their new anti-corruption package as a sequel to reforms that came in the wake of the Watergate scandal, arguing the president has brought about a whole new level of mistrust between the two branches.
“This bill is essential not just because Donald Trump’s presidency has been so damaging, though it has been, but because we owe it to the American people to put in place meaningful constraints on power, fix what is broken, and ensure that there’s never again another Richard Nixon or Donald Trump for either party,” House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff said, introducing the bill.
Mr. Schiff, California Democrat, was joined by Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York, Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney of New York, Budget Chairman John Yarmuth of Kentucky, House Administration Chair Zoe Lofgren of California, House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel of New York, and House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal of Massachusetts.
The long list of Democratic priorities in the package stem from battles they’ve had with the president and his officials over the past two years.
The chairs specifically cited the 2016 Russia controversy, alleged violations of the Hatch Act and emoluments clauses and the president’s dealings with Ukraine that launched an entire impeachment proceeding in their defense of the package.
One provision would require the sitting attorney general to record all contacts between senior Justice Department officials and the White House, an effort to crack down on perceived executive and political overreach on the justice system. Democrats have repeatedly accused Attorney General William Barr, the nation’s top prosecutor, of being a lackey of the president.
Others would provide more protections for whistleblowers — another result of the bitter impeachment fight — and curb the president’s powers to fire an inspector general without sufficient reasoning and an earlier notification period for Congress.
Another provision aims to bolster Congress’ “power of the purse” by limiting the executive’s ability to block or manipulate mandated spending and require that national emergencies be reviewed by lawmakers on Capitol Hill before being announced by the president.
Democrats acknowledged it would be virtually impossible to get this package through the Republican-controlled Senate, who they said are “enabling” Mr. Trump.
Mr. Schiff, though, was optimistic that their reforms would gain bipartisan support if Joseph R. Biden, the Democratic nominee, wins in November.
“I think these reforms will have bipartisan support next year in a new administration when my GOP colleagues will not want to see a Democratic president do half the things of the current president,” he said.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.