A Roadmap for Congressional Oversight and Investigations
The Fight Back Blueprint, Part 2
I continue to believe that Congressional Democrats must be far more aggressive in confronting and opposing the Trump Administration. This is the second in my series of plans for how to do so.
In the first part of the series, I discussed the grave danger this regime poses and the damage it has already done to our rule of law, safety, and future, and prescribed steps that Democrats in Congress should take now to stop Republicans from continuing to enable Trump’s moves toward authoritarian rule. Importantly, those proposals were made within the current framework of power in Washington, with Republicans controlling the House, the Senate, and the Presidency. In this analysis, I extend that framework to consider a hopeful circumstance in which Democrats win back at least one chamber of Congress in 2026, and start to address the question: What should Democrats do next?
The rules of Congress don’t lend themselves kindly to the minority party. Conversely, a legislative majority has significant authority and discretion. In a scenario in which a party controls one or two chambers of Congress but not the executive branch, one of the critical tools available to that party is investigative subpoena power. This gives a House or Senate majority the ability to conduct thorough and detailed oversight of the executive branch through committee hearings, with the ability to summon witnesses and take testimony. Should Democrats win back the House in 2026, this will be one of the most potent and essential tools we have to audit the public and private illegal actions of the Trump Administration and to hold him and his lackeys accountable to the American people.
Power of Oversight
Inextricably intertwined with Congress’s Article I power to legislate is its “power of oversight.” In making laws, Congress also has a responsibility to ensure they are being applied properly and that abuses of power and unlawful activity within the executive branch are addressed. As the Supreme Court has affirmed, “[a] legislative body cannot legislate wisely or effectively in the absence of information.…”
Subpoena power, a vital component of Congress’s investigative authority, allows congressional committees to legally compel records or testimony from individuals or organizations. Recipients must comply with congressional subpoenas, and failure to do so can result in civil or criminal consequences. The rules of the House empower committees to authorize and issue subpoenas either by majority vote or at the discretion of the chair of the committee. They also empower the majority party to call and notice committee hearings.
To that end, the majority party has near-total control over summoning investigative hearings and issuing subpoenas to conduct executive branch oversight. Of course, if one party controls both chambers and the presidency, there is very little incentive for them to use this power and investigate their own party’s behavior, as we have seen in the 119th Congress. If Democrats win the House back in 2026, however, it means that Democrats will be able to legally demand evidence and testimony related to presidential directives and Republican policies. It would give House Democrats the opportunity to force the administration to publicly contend with its corrupt, illegal, and democracy-imperiling conduct and bring incriminating evidence into the light of day.
We have seen this tool strategically deployed by both parties to set election narratives, uncover wrongdoing, and force their opponents to address unpopular or dangerous actions. In 2021, then-Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi formed the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. The Committee, led by Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson, issued more than 100 subpoenas to members of Congress, executive branch employees, and private companies. In a series of ten public hearings, the Committee used evidence from and questioned those witnesses, uncovering text messages, emails, and directives from the president and his advisors that would have otherwise been hidden from the American public.
The hearings were watched by more than 20 million people, a viewership size that is closer to that of a Sunday Night Football game than a typical congressional hearing. The January 6th hearings set a meaningful example for how Democrats can use subpoena power to expose lawlessness by the Trump Administration.
I should acknowledge here that some interpreted Trump’s return to the White House as evidence that the January 6th hearings were ineffective and a poor strategy. I disagree with this conclusion for any number of reasons, chief among them that a scenario in which Trump is President while Democrats control the House and/or the Senate (what is contemplated in this plan) is very different from one in which Joe Biden was President and his Democratic Party controlled Congress (the dynamic during the January 6th hearings). I believe we have a tendency to over-index from individual electoral outcomes, and give short shrift to the public and political value of sustained fight, particularly when we are out of power. As I often note, Democrats right now are the opposition party, and we must act like it.
Republicans get this. They used the power of investigations and oversight effectively during the 118th Congress, when they controlled the House but Democrats controlled the Senate and the Presidency. Republicans held 63 hearings attacking the Biden Administration’s policies across nearly every committee in the House. The House Judiciary Committee, led by Chairman Jim Jordan, issued more than 91 subpoenas alone, to individuals and organizations ranging from Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick Garland, to University presidents, to Meta and Google. Through these hearings, Republicans were able to help shape the narrative around the 2024 Presidential election. They identified issues such as immigration and economic security to pressure Democrats, and did so relentlessly. In 2026, if Democrats win back the House, we should take the lessons learned from this strategy and apply them to our own investigative game plan.
To that end, if and when Democrats win the House back in 2026, we have an obligation and responsibility to strategically deploy oversight power. From the Trump administration’s actions to withhold appropriated funds, launch military hostilities without the consent of Congress, accept Cava bags filled with cash, and arrest and detain innocent American citizens, Trump and Congressional Republicans have given Democrats an endless list of matters to probe. We must organize around a few guiding investigative themes and leave no stone unturned using committee hearings and subpoena power. Through aggressive oversight and investigations, Democrats can:
Check the Trump administration’s lawlessness by making clear that illegal activity and corruption will be investigated, and by spurring criminal prosecutions or impeachments;
Focus the American public on the illegal and corrupt activity that gets lost in the daily barrage of news and distraction out of the White House; and
Shape the narrative of the 2028 elections and help Democrats win back the White House and grow our majority.
But this should not be an improvisational exercise. Democrats should have a ready roadmap for the use of House investigative and oversight authority ready if and when we take the majority. This plan is my draft of that roadmap.
Issue: Illegal Foreign Military Hostilities
Hearing: The Unconstitutional Capture of Nicolás Maduro, President of Venezuela
Background: In the early hours of January 3rd, President Trump led a military attack on Venezuela in which U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and flew him to NYC to face trial on narcoterrorism charges. The extensive bombing campaign involved in Maduro’s capture, which put American forces in harm’s way and cost taxpayers over $600 million, was undertaken without regard to the Constitutional division of war powers that dictate that only Congress has the authority to declare war. Attempts by the administration to frame the kidnapping of a foreign leader as a “defensive” response, or as a law enforcement apprehension, are risible. Rather, by the administration’s own admissions, the goal of the hostilities was to “take back oil” and to prompt a regime change, while the “U.S. will run the country” for the foreseeable future.
Goal: Democrats should use this hearing to bring light to the grave abuses of power of the administration in the attack on Venezuela, and the flimsiness of its pretextual rationale. As Trump threatens increased military strikes around the world, from Mexico to Iran, investigating the lack of Congressional involvement in the capture of Maduro will set an important precedent: abide by the War Powers Resolution, or face legal action.
Committee: House Foreign Affairs Committee, House Armed Services Committee, House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
Potential Witnesses: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. military leaders involved in the strikes, war powers legal experts.
Hearing: Illegal Airstrikes on Marine Vessels in International Waters
Background: In the past several months, the Trump administration has launched several airstrikes on ships it has alleged are trafficking drugs in the Caribbean Sea and the East Pacific Ocean. As of December 31st, at least 115 people have been killed in the strikes, which have been backed by few details and evidence. Additionally, video uncovered by the Washington Post has shown a second strike launched on an already-destroyed vessel in early September, which killed two defenseless survivors that had been clinging onto wreckage. The airstrikes have been executed with no clear legal basis, and several experts have argued they are a violation of international law and may constitute war crimes.
Goal: Democrats should use this hearing to investigate whether the Trump administration is indiscriminately killing people abroad, including innocent civilians. The hearing will determine whether the threshold of “imminent threat of violence” is met by the ships, a claim used by the administration to justify military force as opposed to criminal proceedings. Evidence from the investigation will make clear whether there is a basis to impeach Secretary Hegseth and other key senior officials.
Committee: House Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Armed Services Committee, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
Potential Witnesses: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, U.S. military leaders involved in the airstrikes, threat assessment experts, international law experts.
Issue: Immigration
Hearing: The Department of Homeland Security’s Inhumane Practices in Immigration Courtrooms
Background: ICE officers have targeted legitimate asylum seekers by asking judges to prematurely dismiss noncitizen immigrant court cases. As soon as a case is dismissed, ICE agents, waiting outside of courtrooms, arrest individuals and prepare them for expedited removal. This strips immigrants of their ability to appeal case dismissals and intentionally hamstrings due process to fast-track the deportation process.
Goal: Highlight the inhumane and inefficient tactics ICE is using to hit arbitrary quotas. Particularly in these scenarios, these are not individuals who have broken any laws, contrary to Republican messaging. In fact, they are trying to work within the system to legalize their permanent status. This process tears apart families and dangerously undermines a foundational American principle: due process.
Committee: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House Committee on the Judiciary.
Potential Witnesses: Stephen Miller, DHS Stakeholders (Homan, Noem, Lyons), Individuals affected by this policy, American Immigration Council subject matter experts.
Hearing: Excessive Use of Force by ICE Agents
Background: As ICE agents infiltrate and terrorize cities across the country, there is a growing body of video footage capturing their excessive use of force on immigrants and citizens. On January 7th, an ICE agent shot and killed a woman during an immigration raid in Minneapolis. Additionally, there have been multiple reports in New York of ICE officers at 26 Federal Plaza attacking reporters and family members of those detained. There is disturbing video footage of an ICE officer, who was initially put on leave but has since been reinstated, violently pushing a woman to the ground. There has also been footage of ICE tear-gassing and dragging an American citizen and Army Veteran out of his car.
Goal: Democrats should subpoena ICE agents’ body camera footage, and force Republicans to answer for this administration’s dangerous, excessive use of force on both the individual being detained and bystanders.
Committee: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House Committee on Homeland Security, House Committee on the Judiciary.
Potential Witnesses: Victims of excessive force, ICE agents, DHS officials (Noem, Lyons).
Hearing: Perilously Incompetent or Intentionally Cruel? ICE Arrests of Citizens and Non-Criminal Immigrants
Background: According to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, 71.5% of current ICE detainees have no criminal conviction. In addition, ProPublica found that immigration agents had detained 170 American citizens. These are by no means the “violent criminals” that Trump was promising to “keep off our streets.”
Goal: This hearing should hold ICE accountable for breaking the law and detaining U.S. citizens. It should also highlight the false narrative that Republicans are pushing about arresting dangerous criminals.
Committee: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House Committee on Homeland Security, House Committee on the Judiciary.
Potential Witnesses: U.S. citizens arrested by ICE, DHS officials (Noem, Lyons), ICE agents who have made false arrests.
Field Hearing: Legality of and Safety at ICE “Detention Facilities”
Location: NYC: 26 Federal Plaza, LA: B-18
Background: At federal buildings across the country, such as 26 Federal Plaza in New York and B-18 in LA, ICE agents are detaining and housing individuals in conditions that have been described as “cruel and inhumane.” In these facilities, there are reports the detainees “were forced to sleep on the floor” or were “sitting upright, and were deprived of showers, sufficient medical care and legal representation. Some migrants said they had to contend with a stench emanating from shared toilets, which were in plain view of other detainees.” A judge has already ordered ICE agents to improve conditions at 26 Federal Plaza. Meanwhile, we recently learned that 32 people died while in ICE custody over the course of 2025.
Goal: Hold these hearings on-site or as close to on-site of these federal holding facilities as possible to expose these horrific circumstances. Congress has a right to conduct oversight of these facilities and investigate their conditions. This investigation can support future and ongoing legal action.
Committee: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House Committee on Homeland Security, House Committee on the Judiciary.
Potential Witnesses: Previous detainees at these facilities, DHS officials (Noem, Lyons), constitutional lawyers to discuss potentially unconstitutional conditions.
Issue: Affordability
Hearing: Skyrocketing Energy Prices
Background: Since Donald Trump became president and worked with Congressional Republicans to repeal clean energy tax credits and destabilize the wind and solar energy, energy prices have gone up. This trend will only worsen as demand for energy continues to grow. According to federal data, energy prices are up 5.1% compared to a year earlier.
Goal: As Democrats shape the narrative around the 2026 agenda, Democrats should continue to expose Republicans as the party that increases prices and drives down affordability.
Committees: House Committee on Energy and Commerce, House Committee on Natural Resources.
Potential Witnesses: State Regulators, Renewable Energy Developers and Investors, Economists, Department of Energy and Interior officials.
Hearing: The Cost of Trump’s Misapplied Tariff Policy for Small Businesses
Background: Donald Trump’s poorly applied and vindictive deployment of tariff policy has led to higher prices and more uncertainty for small businesses across the country. Goldman Sachs, as reported by Fox News, completed an analysis that showed that U.S. businesses were bearing the brunt of Trump’s tariff policy, absorbing 51% of the costs. The Federal Reserve of Atlanta also published data that shows that 86% of U.S. companies that import their products by sea — in other words, those that would be affected by the reckless tariffs — have 50 or fewer employees. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimated that small businesses will face a $202 billion “tariff tax”.
Goal: Expose Trump’s reckless tariff policy as a tax on American businesses, particularly small businesses, in some cases driving them out of business.
Committees: House Committee on Small Business.
Potential Witnesses: Small business owners, economists, Federal Reserve representatives.
Issue: National Security
Hearing Series: The Defense Department’s Unauthorized Use of Signal and the Inclusion of a Reporter in What Should Have Been a Classified Discussion
Background: In March 2025, Atlantic Reporter Jeffrey Goldberg reported that he had been added to a group chat with Secretary Hegseth, Michael Walz, and other senior members of the Trump Administration, outlining imminent plans to bomb Houthi targets. The messages were on Signal and were set to “disappear” after a certain amount of time, which is illegal. Not only does this call into question the basic competence of senior administration officials, it is also almost certainly a violation of multiple laws.
Goal: Investigate which laws were broken, the security norms that were breached using this form of communication, the risks it posed, and the sensitivity of information that was relayed to the Atlantic reporter who was accidentally added to the group. This can lead to a series of hearings and can extend further if there is reasonable evidence that this use of Signal happened more than once. This hearing series should be used to assess whether to impeach Secretary Hegseth and other senior officials.
Committees: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House Armed Services Committee.
Potential Witnesses: Subpoena and request comprehensive records from all members of the group chat (including senior aides and assistants), Jeffrey Goldberg, national security subject matter experts on privacy law and defense security rules and procedures.
Hearing Series: Oversight of DOGE and Its Misuse of Highly Sensitive Data
Background: DOGE employees forced themselves into sensitive government databases, accessing highly personal information on American citizens housed at agencies like the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Health and Human Services. More recently, DOGE announced a plan to build a centralized database that marries data from the Department of Homeland Security, the Social Security Administration, HHS, and the IRS together. Reporting suggests they are building out this database with Palantir.
Goal: This series of hearings should investigate the extent to which DOGE’s actions violate the Privacy Act of 1974 and to understand how the Trump Administration is using that data to illegally spy on and track immigrants and citizens.
Committee: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Potential Witnesses: Elon Musk, Palantir executives, DHS officials (Homan, Noem, Lyons).
Issue: Corruption and Rogue Rule
Hearing Series: Trump’s Illegal Impounding of Funds and the Effect It’s Had on Communities and Nonprofits
Background: Trump’s administration has attempted to withhold or cancel nearly $410 billion in previously-appropriated funds from going to nonprofits and communities. Recent analysis from right before the government shutdown shows that these funds are not all for international aid programs, and include funds for programs such as the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Disaster Funding, the Office of Electricity, and more.
Goal: Highlight the disastrous effect this illegal directive has had on our federal agencies, communities and local nonprofits across the country. Subpoena for all documents and memos regarding the administration freezing or cancelling these funds.
Committee: House Committee on Appropriations, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Potential Witnesses: Officials from federal agencies working on affected programs, stakeholders from the community who are no longer receiving funds, employees at OMB.
Hearing Series: Trump’s Weaponization of the Federal Government
Background: Since they regained power in 2023, Congressional Republicans have tried and failed to claim that President Biden and Congressional Democrats were “weaponizing the federal government.” Trump, on the other hand, has prioritized a campaign to use the power of the federal government to prosecute his political enemies. Using the resources of the DOJ to go after James Comey, Letitia James, and Adam Schiff, Trump has gone so far that he is having a hard time finding attorneys who are willing to abandon reason and the rule of law to comply with his intimidation and retribution crusade. America also agrees that Trump is misusing his power here. According to a recent Quinnipiac poll, 52% of respondents agreed that Trump is “using the U.S. Justice Department to file unjustified criminal charges against his political opponents.”
Goal: Highlight Trump’s blatant abuse of power in using federal resources to go after his personal enemies.
Committees: House Judiciary Committee.
Potential Witnesses: DOJ employees from the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, former interim U.S Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Erik Siebert, who resigned after refusing to bring a criminal case against James and Comey.
Hearing: Homan Cash Grab and FBI Investigation
Background: In September 2024, Trump’s now-border czar Tom Homan was being investigated by the FBI under suspicion of trading favors from the president for cash. The FBI got a tip about this behavior and staged an operation where they posed as business executives and offered Homan $50,000 in return for political capital. According to reports, Homan accepted the cash. The FBI investigation was dropped under President Trump.
Goal: Subpoena Homan and the FBI for all records of this operation. This hearing should help uncover what the terms of the transaction were, where the money currently is, and what directives the FBI was given to drop the case. The American people deserve transparency into what appears to be blatant public corruption.
Committees: House Committee on Homeland Security, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Potential Witnesses: Homan, FBI agents involved in the case, DOJ and FBI leadership, Trump-Vance transition team members responsible for closing the investigation.
Hearing Series: Demolition of the East Wing
Background: On Monday, October 20, 2025, under orders from President Trump, demolition of the East Wing of the White House began. Like so much conduct by this administration, it is not clear that appropriate permits were obtained, relevant organizations were consulted, or if artifacts and records — property of the American people — are being properly archived. At the time of the demolition, the administration did not have approval from the National Capitol Planning Committee, and it is unclear whether they have it now. This hearing will expose the President for his selfish, brash, and potentially illegal directive to tear down one of the most iconic and important pieces of physical American history. It is also important to understand the details of how the project is being privately financed.
Goal: Investigate the circumstances in which these actions were taken and demand transparency for the American people. The White House is not a Trump Hotel, and he must not be allowed to treat it as such.
Committees: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Potential Witnesses: Diane Sullivan (Director of Current Planning Division at the National Capital Planning Commission), leadership at the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Commission of Fine Arts.
Issue: Trump’s Self-Enrichment Schemes
Hearing Series: Trump’s Use of His Official Office to Self-Enrich
Background: In a thorough and detailed investigative analysis into how much Trump and his family are profiting from the presidency, David Kirkpatrick of the New Yorker concludes that across Trump’s many ventures, the number was close to $3 billion before the end of the first year of the administration. This includes everything from his personal merchandise store and hotel properties to his crypto scams and the gifting of a Qatari jet. This hearing series should cover each and every one of those conflicts of interest and clearly outline that the President’s commitment to his personal profit far outweighs that of his commitment to the interests of the American people. It should also aid lawmakers in reforming presidential ethics laws.
Goal: This series should be considered the most accurate and up-to-date accounting of Trump’s obvious conflicts of interest, his violations of the emoluments clause, and the many other gross breaches of ethics he has committed. Where there are loopholes, hearings should help lawmakers determine how to strengthen existing law.
Committees: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Potential Witnesses: President Trump, Bill Zanker (Trump’s business partner that oversees Trump’s NFT), Zak Folkman and Chase Herro (Trump’s business partners who run World Liberty Financial), Zack Everson (reporter on Trump’s hotel empire), Jared Kushner.
Hearing: Reverse Robin Hood — Donald Trump Stealing from the American Public for his Personal Gain
Background: This hearing could be a series, with multiple examples of how Trump has exploited his position for personal gain, but one stark example is the report that the president demanded that the DOJ pay him $230 million to compensate him for previous cases against him. Not only is this a completely blatant case of corruption (these cases were duly opened and investigated), it came during a government shutdown, when his party failed to pay federal workers and right after Trump threatened Medicaid and SNAP for many Americans through H.R.1.
Goal: Subpoena DOJ employees and White House officials familiar with this demand from the president to highlight how deeply corrupt it is that the senior leadership in charge of making this payment to the president is made up of attorneys and officials he politically appointed.
Committees: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Potential Witnesses: DOJ employees, White House officials.
Hearing Series: Trump’s Corrupt Crypto Empire
Background: Trump’s crypto empire is perhaps the most lucrative and egregious example of his corruption in the White House. Trump has used the crypto industry to curry political favors and self-enrich both through the sale of his own coins and tokens to everyday consumers, and by soliciting campaign payments in exchange for pardons and fewer regulations on the industry. Trump has now pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance, who pled guilty to violating anti-money laundering laws in 2023 and recently used Binance to boost the value of Trump’s World Liberty Financial stablecoin. He has also granted clemency to Ross Ulrich, who operated a crypto dark web drug site and he pardoned Arthur Hayes a crypto leader who had also pleaded guilty to money laundering.
Goal: This hearing series should investigate everything from Trump’s conflict of interest in promoting policy he is using to get rich, to the parties he is throwing for his memecoin investors, to what he is receiving from individuals he’s promising to pardon. The hearings should also aim to investigate if foreign governments are influencing the president through his crypto holdings. His egregious crypto corruption is less well known than his other antics and this hearing should highlight just how deep it goes.
Committees: House Committee on Financial Services, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Potential Witnesses: Pardoned crypto CEOS, Trump family members with cryptocurrencies, Bill Zanker (Trump’s business partner who oversees Trump’s NFT), Zak Folkman and Chase Herro (Trump’s business partners who run World Liberty Financial), Donald Trump, Jr. and Eric Trump.
Issue: Democracy
Hearing Series: The Trump Administration Actions to Dismantle Federal Agencies and Politicize the Federal Workforce
Background: Since the start of his Presidency, Donald Trump has targeted, gutted, and even entirely eliminated federal agencies. He began by empowering the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to terminate thousands of federal employees. More recently, his OMB director, Russ Vought announced plans to lay off thousands more federal workers under the guise of the government shutdown.
Goal: This series of hearings should cover everything from the chaotic and reckless way that DOGE entered the federal government, to the loyalty tests now being administered to new hires, to the decrease in services and resources available to the American public as a result of these minimized workforces. It should also cover Trump’s moves to fire nonpartisan civil servants and replace them with his political lackeys. This should include the dismantling of the Department of Education, USAID, CFPB, and more.
Committee: Every House Committee with relevant federal agency jurisdiction should hold a series of these hearings. When finished, it should paint a comprehensive picture of the Trump Administration’s assault on every agency from USAID to the State Department.
Potential Witnesses: Former non-partisan federal workers who were laid off, DOGE employees (ie. Edward “Big Balls” Coristine, Kyle Schutt, Ethan Shaotran, Luke Farritor, etc).
Hearing: Censorship under the Trump Administration
Background: In late July 2025, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was abruptly cancelled. There was speculation that the Trump Administration was pushing CBS/Paramount to censor Colbert’s historically anti-Trump rhetoric. The cancellation happened just a few days after Paramount settled a lawsuit with the president, agreeing to pay him $16 million and as the company was in talks with the FCC to allow a merger with Skydance in an $8 billion deal. In September, ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! after Jimmy Kimmel made a benign joke about the Republican Party after Charlie Kirk’s death.
Goal: Subpoena executives at the relevant media companies as well as FCC Chair Carr to understand exactly how these decisions were made and to hold them accountable for potentially violating the First Amendment. House Democrats should also probe witnesses to gather evidence and assess if federal bribery laws were broken.
Committee: House Committee on Energy & Commerce, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Potential Witnesses: CBS, Paramount, ABC, and Disney Executives, Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert, FCC Chairman Carr.
Issue: Public Safety and Health
Hearing: The Safety of Tylenol (Acetaminophen) During Pregnancy
Background: In September 2025, Secretary RFK Jr. announced that HHS was going to issue a notice to physicians and start requiring Tylenol to change its labels because of a false and deeply misguided belief that Acetomenophin, the primary active ingredient in Tylenol, leads to conditions like autism. Not only is this type of nonscientific assertion threatening for pregnant women, it also sets a dangerous precedent that the NIH can choose to misinterpret or outright ignore scientific data in pursuit of politically motivated outcomes.
Goal: Convene doctors, scientists, and other experts in medicine to testify to the safety of the drug. This is important to reassure the American people that their pain management options are safe and to hold RFK Jr. and the Trump Administration responsible for their false and dangerous rhetoric.
Committees: House Committee on Energy and Commerce, House Committee on Oversight of the Federal Government.
Potential Witnesses: Doctors and scientists who have researched the drug, CDC and NIH officials, subject matter experts from countries with similar safety standards (ie. U.K., Canada, etc.).
Hearing: Undermining Vaccines and Putting Americans in Harm’s Way
Background: Secretary RFK Jr. has spent his time as head of HHS calling into question the efficacy and safety of vaccines. Not only is this extremely dangerous, it is a flat-out lie, being dangerously evangelized by the head of the Department of Health and Human Services. This rhetoric has led to multiple large measles outbreaks across the country, leading to the death of two children and total cases hitting a 34-year high this summer.
Goal: Hold RFK Jr. accountable for the direct negative impact he has had on public safety, including the death of two children due to measles. Make it clear that anyone in his position should be sharing information cautiously and thoughtfully, with scientific evidence.
Committees: House Committee on Energy and Commerce, House Committee on Oversight of the Federal Government.
Potential Witnesses: Affected community members, doctors, RFK Jr. and HHS employees.
Hearing: The Deployment of the National Guard to Democrat-Lead U.S. Cities
Background: The President has deployed the National Guard to several major cities led by Democrats, including Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Chicago, New Orleans, and Memphis. Trump has argued this dramatic escalation is a response to rising crime rates and civil unrest, as well as an effort to eliminate “the enemy within.” The Supreme Court recently determined that the National Guard deployments, executed in spite of opposition from local leaders, were a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the use of the U.S. military for domestic law enforcement. While the President responded by dropping the use of the National Guard in major cities in the short-term, he stressed that it is “only a question of time” before they return “in a much different and stronger form.”
Goal: Establish, with clear evidence, that deployments of the National Guard to cities against their will is illegal and not to resume in the future. Anticipate and dispel future legal arguments likely to be used by the Trump administration in this effort, including the unjustified invocation of the Insurrection Act.
Committees: House Judicial Committee, House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, House Committee on Homeland Security.
Potential Witnesses: State and local officials targeted by National Guard deployments, Attorneys-General who successfully filed for their cessation, law enforcement experts to show that the deployment was unnecessary, civil liberties experts.
Hearing: The Trump Administration’s Attacks on Gun Safety
Background: Immediately upon taking office, Donald Trump began to pursue an agenda to roll back gun safety legislation and dismantle the systems that keep Americans safe from gun violence. Within hours of his inauguration, he disbanded the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. He followed this up by cutting over $800 million worth of local grants to gun prevention and crime reduction programs, purging hundreds of thousands of records from background check databases, and making it easier and cheaper to buy dangerous gun accessories like forced-reset triggers and silencers. These policies have made all Americans less safe in their communities.
Goal: This hearing will expose the danger of the Trump administration in the realm of gun violence. As annual gun deaths near record highs, an investigation into the systemic dismantling of decades-long gun restrictions will clearly show that Trump is a threat to public safety in every sense of the term.
Committees: House Judiciary Committee, House Committee on Homeland Security, House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
Potential Witnesses: Law enforcement professionals, victims and survivors of gun violence, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) senior officials, CDC experts.