--- title: With Control of the House, Democrats Vow Oversight on Trump description: Democratic lawmakers, set to take control of the U.S. House for the first time since 2010, said they will be a check for President Trump. canonical: https://time.com/5451582/democrats-house-majority-trump/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-11-11T18:56:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:05:55.412Z article:section: Politics og:title: With Control of the House, Democrats Vow Oversight on Trump Administration og:description: Democrats are set to take control of the House in January og:url: https://time.com/5451582/democrats-house-majority-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte039acd427ffbba9/69893ec122fb85121ee271fe/house-democrats-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5215 og:image:height: 2933 og:image:alt: house-democrats-trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: With Control of the House, Democrats Vow Oversight on Trump Administration twitter:description: Democrats are set to take control of the House in January twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte039acd427ffbba9/69893ec122fb85121ee271fe/house-democrats-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # With Control of the House, Democrats Vow Oversight on Trump Administration > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=e2969acd-b1bb-46f2-99cf-27d3ea7b31cc&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Redder. Bluer. Trumpier. America Is About to Be Even More Divided [Watch (HLS stream): Redder. Bluer. Trumpier. America Is About to Be Even More Divided](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/2Gr7iLqd.m3u8) (2:54)  _Published 2018-11-09. By the time Nancy Pelosi took the stage at the Hyatt Regency in Washington on Election Day, it was nearly midnight and the panic had passed._ by [Miles Weiss and Mark Niquette / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Miles Weiss and Mark Niquette / Bloomberg Contributor Nov 11, 2018 6:56 PM UTC By the time Nancy Pelosi took the stage at the Hyatt Regency in Washington on Election Day, it was nearly midnight and the panic had passed. by [Miles Weiss and Mark Niquette / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Miles Weiss and Mark Niquette / Bloomberg Contributor Nov 11, 2018 6:56 PM UTC (Bloomberg) — Democratic lawmakers, set to take control of the U.S. House for the first time since 2010, said they’d be reluctant seek the impeachment of Donald Trump or issue blanket subpoenas to the Trump administration, as some of the party’s activists are demanding. While the Republican Party controlled both arms of Congress during Trump’s first two years in office, Democrats are set to take control of the House in January after capturing a majority of seats during the Nov. 6 mid-term elections. That means Democrats will head key House committees come the new year, permitting them to demand testimony and documents from administration officials. Key House Democrats made the rounds of Sunday’s political talk shows, including Jerrold Nadler of New York, who’s expected to lead the Judiciary Committee, Adam Schiff of California, who’s likely to lead the Intelligence Committee, and Elijah Cummings of Maryland, who’s expected to run the Oversight Committee. Nadler said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that protecting the integrity of Robert Mueller’s probe into the 2016 election, and possible involvement by members of Trump’s campaign, was the most important among many priorities. ### ‘Reluctant’ on Impeachment Nadler said he’s not prepared to say the president has obstructed justice in his conduct toward the Russian probe but “there’s a lot of evidence to that effect” that will be investigated now that Democrats have power. Still, while Nadler told CNN that impeachment proceedings against Trump “will come up down the road, maybe,” he said on ABC he’d be “reluctant” unless allegations of wrongdoing “rise to the gravity which would necessitate putting the country through the trauma on an impeachment process.” Also on CNN, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer sidestepped a question of whether Democrats should pursue impeachment. Schiff said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that House Democratic leaders will have to work to make sure investigations don’t cloud other legislative priorities, but “we are going to need to ruthlessly prioritize on the Intel Committee which investigative threads we go down.” ### Halloween Candy Trump warned at a news conference Nov. 7 of a “war-like posture” if the Democratic House opens new investigations. Cummings said Sunday that he’s not going to war with the Trump administration, and plans to use subpoena power as a “method of last resort.” “I’m not going to be handing out subpoenas like somebody’s handing out candy on Halloween,” Cummings said on ABC. “If I have to use them, they will be used in a methodical way and it must be in the public’s interest.” Cummings said he’ll seek to hold Trump accountable, and among the areas the committee might pursue are questions of whether Trump is violating the Constitution’s emoluments clauses to enrich himself, controversy over a new FBI headquarters in Washington, and perhaps the president targeting Amazon.com and CNN. The release of Trump’s tax returns could be another Democratic target. Democrats have already signaled they’ll challenge Trump on policy issues ranging from climate change to Wall Street regulation. Nancy Pelosi, set to regain her title as House Speaker, said last week that Democrats will seek to find “common ground” with Trump where possible but will also exercise the party’s newfound “constitutional responsibility to have oversight.” ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] The midterm elections marked a significant shift in American politics. Democrats reclaim the House of Representatives, while Republicans strengthen their report on the Senator. But digging farther to how won shows how different the new Congress will be. [ MUSIC ] The number of women in the House of Representatives will reach an historic high when new members are sworn in next January largely due to Democrats. More than 30 House of Representatives seats went to female candidates this year as a record number of women ran for Congress. Many of the women say they were inspired to run by Donald Trump's win in 2016 and his behavior as president since then. 29- year- old Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez is now the youngest elected member. And Democrats Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota will become the first Muslim women in Congress. [ UNKNOWN ] Democrat Sherice Davids of Kansas and Deb Holland of New Mexico gained victories as the first Native American women to be voted into congress while republican Marsha Blackburn will become the first female senator from Tennessee. [ MUSIC ] 2018 is shaping- up to be historic for voter turnout as well. Early numbers indicate approximately 114 million votes cast, much higher than the 83 million cast in 2014. With control of Congress at stake, turns out was high among both Democrats and Republicans eager to make their stamp on Trump's next two years in office. Popular ballot measures and voting rights, abortion and marijuana also contributed. [ MUSIC ] Trump was not on the ballot, but many voters acted as he was. The president heavy campaigning in red states appeared to help Republican candidates over the line. At the same time, the President's unpopularity drove turnout in many Democratic areas, and appeared to hurt Republican house candidates running in the suburbs of major cities. As democrats clean the house a the incoming chairs of 21 committees will be looking for ways to press forward on investigations they feel more ignored under the Republic in majority. This is likely to include likes Trump's personal financial conflicts as well as as well as controversies around members of his administration such as. Former EPA director Scott Pruitt. Some Democratic veterans have urged restraint, arguing that the new House majority should take its time to work through the most urgent investigations and avoid the appearance of a free for all. Trump argued that investigations would harm any ability for him to work with the Democrats on bipartisan legislation on infrastructure and other issues. The 2018 mid- terms may be over but the repercussions from election night will be felt for years to come. 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