Scoop: Top House Dems plot first big battle with Trump
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Democrats, including Gerry Connolly (middle row, from left), Jamie Raskin, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Stacey Plaskett, in the U.S. House chamber during the Oct. 17, 2023 speaker election. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
Leading House Democrats are weighing legal, investigative and legislative options to respond to President Trump's firing of at least a dozen agency inspectors general last week, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The ousters — the legality of which have been questioned even by some Republicans — present the first major test of congressional Democrats' ability to counter Trump while in the minority.
- House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has positioned himself as the new leader of the resistance, working with Trump to keep the government afloat while opposing what he sees as threats to democracy.
- A spokesperson for Jeffries, asked for comment on the firings, referred to a letter from his committee ranking members blasting them as illegal.
What they're saying: "We're exploring multiple avenues of action to defend the integrity of federal agencies ... everything is on the table at this point," House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told Axios in a Monday interview.
- Oversight Committee ranking member Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) told Axios, "We can have minority witnesses at hearings, we can have our own independent roundtables, we can have minority reports."
- "There are tools available to us, and we're going to use everything we've got. Don't forget, in Trump 1.0 we were in the minority too. We had some signal victories."
Driving the news: Trump on Friday reportedly fired at least 12 inspectors general — with some reports putting the number at 18 and Connolly telling Axios he believes it is actually 19.
- IGs act as internal watchdogs within federal agencies charged with investigating corruption or misconduct.
- Trump often clashed with and ousted IGs during his first term, leading Congress to pass a law in 2022 requiring presidents to provide Congress with 30 days' notice and a "substantial rationale" for such firings.
- Trump has defended his actions, telling reporters Saturday, "Some people thought that some were unfair or some were not doing their job. And it's a very standard thing to do."
Zoom in: Several top lawmakers proposed, as a potential first step, bolstering the ousted inspectors general in an expected court battle against Trump.
- "The inspector generals association has already made it clear they're going to litigate, and ... any members of Congress would have standing, I believe, to join that litigation," said Natural Resources Committee ranking member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.).
- Connolly also said he plans to introduce legislation to empower the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) to keep potential Trump replacement IGs in check.
Reality check: Republicans ultimately hold the real tools — appropriations and subpoenas — for keeping the executive branch in check, a reality Democrats are clear-eyed about.
- "If the Democrats were in control, we would be having hearings immediately," said Raskin. "I would hope that our Republican colleagues would be as alarmed as we are, but I have a hunch they may not be."
- Of his CIGIE bill, Connolly said: "We're in the minority so I doubt that legislation is going to pass. That doesn't mean we can't put it in the hopper and, hopefully, two years hence, address some of these issues legislatively."
The bottom line: For now, Huffman acknowledged, Democrats' most reliable avenue for recourse is "the bully pulpit, it's marshaling public opinion, it's calling out our Republican colleagues who've turned into feckless supplicants."
- "And it's setting our sights on the 2026 midterm, when hopefully the cavalry will arrive."
