With a divided Congress and an election fast approaching, congressional Democrats have little opportunity to enact any landmark legislation, but they need not sit on their hands. Congressional committees have the power to conduct hearings, investigations, and issue subpoenas. As the majority party in the Senate, Democrats should be using this authority to aggressively critique corporations that harm the public’s health and pocketbooks.
While these committees sat idly by, the Budget and Finance committees actually took steps to address Trump’s quid pro quo. In May, the committees jointly sent letters to industry leaders, including Chevron and ExxonMobil, requesting materials from the event, information about campaign donations, and copies of draft policy proposals. It was a good first step.