In the News
This week the Trump administration learns what Democratic oversight looks like.
After a 35-day government shutdown that consumed congressional leaders, Democrats hold a series of hearings this week that define a new normal in Washington: the Trump administration is in the hot seat. Empowered with their new majority and already facing roadblocks from key players in Trump's orbit, committee leaders are moving ahead with the spotlight on some of the President's most controversial policies and associates in a marathon not expected to end for the next two years.
Two powerful U.S. lawmakers sent letters to the three leading insulin manufacturers on Wednesday requesting information on why its cost has skyrocketed in recent years and how much the companies profit from the life-sustaining diabetes treatment.
Top House Democrats are scrutinizing various controversial moves by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to eliminate or roll back air pollution regulations.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and the chairmen of two subcommittees in that panel wrote a letter probing the policies Monday, weeks after Democrats took the majority in the House. It shows that the Democrats plan to make oversight of the EPA's enforcement of the Clean Air Act a priority.
Federal workers facing the 35th day of the government shutdown without pay on Friday got a chance to speak directly to someone with a voice in Congress.
They met at U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette's offices in Denver. When he got a chance to speak to DeGette directly, Denverite and furloughed federal worker Matthew Castelli made a direct plea.
"We could use your help using common-sense legislation to reopen the government," Castelli said. "I don't think anyone disagrees that federal employees should be doing their jobs. We want to do our jobs."
The Senate is poised as early as Tuesday to act on a Trump-backed measure to end the partial government shutdown, but a bill promoted as a compromise to pair the president's wall with legal protections for some immigrants would also severely restrict migrants' ability to claim asylum, drawing fierce opposition from immigrant rights groups.
A House panel sent a letter Friday to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar requesting he turn over documents related to the administration's "zero-tolerance" policy that led to the separation of families apprehended along the southern border.
Colorado Democrat gains direct oversight of HHS, EPA, other major federal agencies
U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver, was named chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Oversight and Investigations panel.
The move Jan. 15 move gives the Colorado Democrat considerable sway to influence future policy decisions related to health care and the environment as her party once again takes control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, a Denver Democrat, is at the helm of one of Congress' most powerful investigations panels after her party's stunning November victories — a role that means she wields subpoena powers.
And although she says Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee's subcommittee on oversight and investigations are still trying to prioritize their specific probes, a broad target is clear: the Trump administration. Already on tap are border policy, climate change and health care.
Colorado's congressional Democrats said at a Monday morning news conference at Denver International Airport that President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell were holding government workers "hostage" while the president throws "temper tantrums" over a border wall that has ever-shifting funding sources and while the longest-ever government shutdown continues.=
House Democrats on Tuesday vowed to repeal a ban on the use of federal funds for abortions.
While a repeal of the long-standing ban is unlikely with Republican control of the Senate, the move indicates the direction Democrats want to go should they gain control of the upper chamber in 2020.
"We are going to end the Hyde Amendment," said Rep. Diana DeGette, co-chairwoman of the House Pro-Choice Caucus.
"We intend to fight aggressively to reverse the terrible decisions made by the Trump administration, and frankly previous administrations, going back 40 years."