What Does the House of Representatives Oversight Committee Do?
New York Congressman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts spokesman Ayanna Pressly made headlines last night after winning coveted seats on the House oversight committee.
“I’ll come to the hearing committee near you” – wrote Pressly in Twitter , followed by GIFCA with the caption: “I have the receipt.” But for those of you who are not in the know, what actually controls this powerful committee? Here’s a rundown of the importance of the House of Representatives oversight committee and why it’s more needed than ever.
What does the House of Representatives oversight committee do?
The House Oversight and Reform Committee is the investigative body of the House of Representatives. They have the ability to investigate any issue within their “jurisdiction”, including everything from operations to the reorganization of the executive branch. In other words, the committee has a lot of power, but with a caveat.
The minority party on the committee does not have the ability to summon people to investigate without the approval of the majority party. Accordingly, the Democrats had a difficult time investigating anyone for several years, and the Republicans have been the majority party since the beginning of Trump’s rule. Elijah Cummings , the current chair of the committee, has filed approximately 64 summons over the past two years. All were rejected.
The general committee also has a number of subcommittees, each of which oversees a specific industry, such as the environment, health, or homeland security.
Will they investigate Trump?
It is very likely that it will be so. In February, former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen will testify before a committee where he is expected to share information about Trump. (In an interview with ABC News in December, Cohen already discussed Trump’s illegal payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal during the campaign.)
As recently as Wednesday, the committee also began investigating the White House’s security clearance process, questioning Jared Kushner’s unprecedented access to classified information.
Trump’s tax returns are likely to be on the committee’s agenda as well.
So Ocasio-Cortez and Pressly on the committee are good?
This is a great thing if you want a change. With the Democrats as the new majority party in the house and committee, and a number of outspoken Trump critics involved, the committee can investigate without getting in the way.
If you want to keep abreast of committee hearings, you can read press releases and hearings on the committee’s website .