The Democrat who'll become chairman of the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday set a Jan. 11 deadline for the White House and executive agencies to respond to previously ignored requests for documents and information, another signal of the heightened scrutiny that President Donald Trump's administration will face next year.
Maryland Representative Elijah Cummings is flexing the new power Democrats will gain when they take control of the House on Jan. 3 to collect responses to 51 separate requests for answers that Republicans declined to enforce while they ran the panel.
"As Democrats prepare to take the reins in Congress, we are insisting — as a basic first step — that the Trump Administration and others comply with these Republican requests," Cummings said in a statement.
The letters were sent to the White House and multiple federal agencies requesting compliance on matters that touch on a range of potential inquiries, including staff and Cabinet member travel, administration policy on immigrant child separations, security clearances and payments from foreign governments.
"These are documents that even the Republicans on the Oversight Committee — at least at some point in time — believed we needed to conduct effective oversight, but when the Trump administration refused to comply fully, the Republicans would not issue a single subpoena,' Cummings said.
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