Democrats foment Trump's absence with surveillance offensive

The unexpected controversy was a new shock to the tense nerves of the capital at a decisive moment. The special council, Robert Mueller, is expected to hand over the results of his investigation of Russian electoral interference to Attorney General Bill Barr shortly.

The confrontation between the White House and the Democrats who were beginning to unveil the power of their new majority in the House was already going to be ugly, as will be shown by a series of hearings and ground actions this week.

The majority of the House of Democrats will hold a vote Tuesday on a historic attempt to end the national emergency used by President Donald Trump to try to bypass Congress after he refused to finance his wall.

"If we did nothing less than overthrow the president's action, we would be behind in our tasks," House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said during a trip to the United States. border last week.

Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, will face a closed meeting Tuesday with the Senate Intelligence Committee on the eve of his public testimony before a panel of the House during one of the appearances most expected of this type for years.

Emotional exchanges are also expected Tuesday during a hearing in the House that will question officials about the suspended practice of the administration of separating undocumented migrant children from their parents on the Mexican border.

It is almost certain that none of the Congress debates that will take place over the next few days would have taken place during the previous flexible and GOP-led majority, which had no desire or motivation to control the President.

The clashes are likely to give a glimpse of the next two years in Washington, with few signs of serious bipartite legislation on the horizon and the two parties already using the clashes to position themselves for the race to the White House of 2020.

They will also test the ability and willingness of Republicans, especially the Senate, to defend the President, even on a topic like the National Emergency Declaration, which has disrupted some GOP members for constitutional reasons.

The ultimate target of all exams this week will not be in town to defend himself – he will be in Hanoi, Vietnam, in preparation for his second crucial summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

But that does not mean he's not going to get into the fray with all his weapons.

And his willingness to meet Kim – at the same time as he is preparing a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to conclude a trade deal – sends his own eloquent signal.

Even if the Democrats redouble their efforts to control Trump's power, the president will seek to maximize every opportunity to exercise executive power that can escape the congressional power of restraint.

Both parties benefit from Washington conflict in 2020 fight

Democrats understand that it is unlikely that their attempt to use a provision of the 1976 National Emergencies Act will eventually override some presidential veto, because of the strength of the number of members of the Senate.

For example, a Republican senator, John Cornyn, from Texas, who had previously voiced concern about the use of emergency authority to build the wall, seems to be taking into account political considerations now that the debate is a reality.

"I'm opposed to the disapproval resolution mainly because I think it's the way (of Senate Minority Leader) Schumer and Pelosi to paint the president in the corner," Cornyn said on Monday. .

"He always said that he wanted money to ensure border security and they basically said, we are determined not to give him what he thought was necessary."

Nevertheless, several other GOP senators have expressed concern about Trump's decision. It is therefore possible that the resolution of the disapproval will be adopted by the Senate the first time, even if a majority of the veto is out of reach.

The Democrats' Forum provides an overview of the arguments that will be presented when the statement is challenged in a legal battle that could end up in the Supreme Court.

And this will serve a political purpose while Democrats seek to take advantage of a question about which they have public opinion – their opposition to the use of a decoration. urgency to build the wall – to weaken the president.

There is a common thread in all the control efforts of the Democratic Congress. They represent a genuine attempt to use the power that, according to party leaders, was granted by voters in November to control a president who often strives to the limits of his office.

The use of checks and balances also allows Democrats to defend their cause – that Trump's presidency represents a legal and moral break from US values ​​- that will underpin their 2020 campaign.

This idea will be the implicit message that Democrats will try to extract from a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday in separations of families that critics described as cruel and inhumane during the confrontation of the practice. 39, last year.

Among the witnesses will be Scott Lloyd, the former director of the Refugee Resettlement Office, the highest official still disputed about separations due to the new Democratic majority.

Health and Social Services Secretary Alex Azar declined a request for testimony at Capitol Hill earlier this year.

The administration is under increasing pressure on "zero tolerance" immigration policy "following the release of a report by the HHS inspector general that thousands more children separated from their parents would have been separated from what had been previously recognized.

According to more than 2,000 identified children, many have been reunited with their parents, according to recent court records.

Far from the eyes but not from the heart

Given his penchant for establishing the political agenda, on Twitter or through meetings with reporters, it is unlikely that the president can withstand the weighing of political conflicts in Washington.

In fact, he will be dining with Kim on Wednesday night in the Vietnamese capital at about the same time, given the 12-hour time difference, that Cohen will appear before the House Oversight Committee.

With this president, far from the eyes is never lost sight of.

A more conventional commander in chief could choose to avoid the tragedy in Washington to stay focused on his great foreign policy and avoid telling a story that is unfavorable to him.

But Trump always responds when he thinks he has been attacked – often with less sharp rhetoric than the one used against him.

He is almost certain to call Cohen a liar, as his former lawyer has admitted to not having told the truth in Congress, even though any counter-attack might attract attention and make headlines. head-to-head with Kim.

The appearance of Cohen will likely be perceived by Trump as an act of treason, while the committee had indicated that it would testify about the affairs and privacy of the president in a manner that could harm to his former client.

It is also certain that he will be asked questions about the allegations that the Republican presidential candidate at the time would have ordered him to pay money to two women who claimed to have relations with Trump because he was worried about the impact of the scandal on the 2016 election.

The president's son, Don Jr., had some retaliation Monday, during an overview of the defense of the administration.

"You have a president trying to solve a major global problem and you're trying to distract or bring in a convicted criminal and a known liar," Trump Jr. told Fox News.

"It's pretty pathetic, but it shows you how much the Democrats hate Trump," he said.

Despite the fact that Trump is on the shared screen for the next few days, the acceleration of the Democratic watch campaign is a serious challenge for the White House – and subpoenas have not yet begun to fly.

A relentless review by the other party in Congress is exhausting and demoralizing for an administration as officials are called to testify and face their own legal threats.

But Trump seems to have lived all his life in an atmosphere of chaos and at the tip of the knife.

The president has already sought to qualify the strategy of democratic surveillance as "presidential harassment". And he's never been as politically dangerous as when he has a foil.