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President Trump's mistrust of congressional attempts to investigate his administration has put additional pressure on the ability of the legislature to serve as constitutional oversight for a president who sees few limits to his executive power.
Since taking office, Trump has always considered Congress as a subordinate more than an equal – often aided by the tacit approval of congressional Republicans who have shown little interest in confronting the president.
But tensions between Trump and Capitol Hill have intensified in recent days, with the White House refusing to comply with the subpoenas of newly empowered Democrats in the House, eager to exercise aggressive surveillance over its administration.
Trump's decision not to cooperate with House committees, coupled with the reluctance of the Republicans who control the Senate to overthrow him, has left Congress scrambling to badert itself as an equal branch of government, probably leaving the courts to settle a series of power struggles that could define the relationship between the executive and the legislature for years to come.
"Respecting the limits of your branch of government, respecting the role of other branches of government is in a way the oil that makes the machine work," said Representative Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.), Member of of the House Oversight Committee. "Without that, things are getting worse. And I think we really see this with this administration in an unprecedented way. "
This week alone, the White House and senior officials of the Trump administration have resisted Democrats' subpoenas on at least three fronts, limiting the control that Democrats can exercise as both parties prepare. at a potentially long stalemate.
First, the White House instructed a former staff security officer not to attend a scheduled testimony as part of the House's oversight committee's investigation into privacy practices. security clearance of the administration. The manager, Carl Kline, could now be held in contempt of Congress.
Donald McGahn, a former White House lawyer, was summoned to the hearing by the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives of the Administration. The administration officials then indicated that they were going to invoke the privilege of the executive to block his testimony.
And on Wednesday, the Justice Department said it would not comply with a bipartisan subpoena from the oversight committee that had asked to testify for its ongoing investigation into the addition of a citizenship question at the 2020 census.
This week, the Treasury Department also exceeded the deadline set by the House, although it is not technically a subpoena, for Trump's tax returns to be referred to the Tracks Committee. means. On Wednesday night, the White House told a committee of the House that Trump's advisor, Stephen Miller, was refusing to testify about the administration's immigration policies.
"We are fighting against all subpoenas. These are not impartial people, "Trump told reporters Wednesday, accusing Democrats of being motivated solely by politics. "Democrats are trying to win 2020."
Democrats, determined to resist more severely every rejection of the administration, warn that Trump's attempts to resist Congressional scrutiny could be a dangerous precedent.
"If Trump is allowed to ignore Congress, then, in reality, we no longer have a representative system of government," said Representative Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), A member of the House Judiciary Committee. "We have more like a monarchy. This is exactly what our founders wanted to prevent. "
The president and his allies rejected these complaints, noting that he was not the first president to tour a recalcitrant convention or run into lawmakers keen to investigate. an administration. His supporters also argue that the Democrats are excessive in their investigations, which were launched soon after the party took control of the House on January 3rd.
"He obviously wants to work with Congress because he has an agenda that essentially goes nowhere without Congress," said a former senior White House official who asked for anonymity. discuss the president's point of view. "But I also think that he's looking at Congress in the same way that he's watching everything in Washington." . . . These people were sent here to do specific things they ran on and they do not do much. "
The former official added, "The American general is making fun of Congress. . . I think it's pretty widely shared in the west wing. "
Although Trump's clashes with Democrats are new, his lack of deference to Congress has been a theme throughout his presidency, while he was rarely challenged by a Republican-controlled Congress. He continues to ignore the Senate Republicans' concerns about candidates, his badertion of executive power and trade policy.
Trump has openly expressed his preference for acting Cabinet members, even though vacancies remain at the highest levels of the administration, despite Senators' argument that senior officials who do not go through the confirmation process can be less accountable to legislators and the public. Several key Cabinet positions are filled by acting officials, including the Secretaries for Defense and Homeland Security.
The year began with a historically long government closure that ended only when Trump issued an emergency statement to bypbad Congress to ensure funding that the legislator would not provide. for its boundary wall, despite the anticipated warnings from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that such an approach would be unpopular with GOP Senators.
The administration also rejected requests from influential Republicans, such as Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles E. Grbadley (R-Iowa), who in February asked for a copy of the Commerce Department's report reviewing the item. whether manufactured cars and auto parts could be taxed for reasons of national security. As of this week, he has not received any.
"The Finance Committee is the jurisdictional committee responsible for trade policy," said Michael Zona, a spokesman for Grbadley. "There is therefore no reason for Commerce not to provide the President with its official trade policy report."
A bipartisan inquiry requested by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the death of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi asked the administration to send a report to Congress required by a law to combat human rights abuses.
But in February, the Trump administration refused to do so. A senior administration at the time said Trump had the discretion to "refuse to act on congressional committee requests, if any".
Senate Republicans have been more willing to break with the President in recent weeks, even though they were very gentle.
The opposition of at least four Senate Republicans has defeated any possibility of seeing Herman Cain, a former GOP presidential candidate, appointed to the Federal Reserve. And GOP leaders urge Trump to get feedback from their members sooner and more often in the confirmation process – a tacit acknowledgment that their constitutional role and influence have diminished under Trump.
"He seems to be comfortable with people playing an acting role," said Senate Majority Whip John Thune (RS.D.), Republican in Senate No. 2. "I think that it's better for the process, for him and for the people who are appointed to these positions if they go through a full confirmation process and get the US Senate's validation under the obligation to advise and consent to the Constitution. "
The dynamics between the White House and House Democrats are becoming increasingly bitter, even as leaders of both branches continue to hope that bipartisan agreements would be possible in the second half of Trump's first term.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Will meet next week to discuss infrastructure, although the specter of Congressional investigations will certainly weigh in on the discussion.
"They are supposed to talk about infrastructure," said Councilor Kellyanne Conway. "If she comes here under the pretext of infrastructure and wants to talk about subpoena, I'll let you know."
On Wednesday, Trump suggested to the Supreme Court to prevent any attempt at impeachment by Democrats, even as jurists said that power was clearly conferred on Congress in the Constitution.
"I did not do anything wrong," Trump wrote in a tweet. "If Dems fans ever tried to prevent impeachment, I would first go to the United States Supreme Court. Not only are there no "serious crimes and petty offenses", there are no crimes on my part. "
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