AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Democrats will be able to pass bills on their own when the new Congress is sworn in in January, but they can't make President Trump sign those bills into law. One thing that they can do on their own - investigate, investigate, investigate. NPR's Eric McDaniel is here in the studio now to share more about that part of the Democratic governing agenda. Hi, Eric.
ERIC MCDANIEL, BYLINE: Howdy, howdy.
CHANG: Howdy, howdy. OK. So it has been a few years since we've had different parties in control of the White House and Congress, and that always does result in investigation. So can we just take a moment to remind everyone what this part of congressional work is all about?
MCDANIEL: This is so important. I don't think we can be too basic here. Look, Congress has a few key functions. They pass laws. They direct tax dollars, the power of the purse, and they conduct oversight of the executive branch...
CHANG: Right.
MCDANIEL: ...Investigations. That's the third bucket. They have the authority to force documents to be turned over, to make people come and testify under oath, to hold people accountable in the courts if they refuse. And these have been used to great effect through U.S. history, right? The Watergate-era investigations exposed big cover-up schemes by the Nixon administration. The Reagan administration selling weapons to Iran to fund Nicaraguan rebels, the 9/11 Commission, the CIA black site torture report in the 2010s. And with government corruption at the top of the list of voter concerns, it makes sense that this would be a tool Democrats are prioritizing.
CHANG: OK. And do we know what they will focus on come January?
MCDANIEL: There are some things people are probably already thinking about as they listen. The president and his family have gotten much richer during the second term. The Justice Department's handling of the documents tied to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein also going to be a focus. But there are things you might not be thinking about that I'd argue may be even more important for the health of democracy.
CHANG: Like, what?
MCDANIEL: Right. I mentioned at the top Congress has power of the purse, right? The president and his Office of Management and Budget director, though, Russ Vought, have twice ignored how Congress directed that spending. They either didn't spend it on things that Congress said they should or did other things with it. And that's a very big deal. The power of the purse to decide how money is spent is the constitutional power that underpins all other congressional powers. So if the presidency manages to subsume that, what is Congress really there for?
Second, I'd say the Iran war and just the use of the military generally. Remember, the Pentagon...
CHANG: Sure.
MCDANIEL: ...Has been striking what they describe as drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific. The president and his secretary of defense have never made the case to the American public about the war in Iran. And Congress is supposed to authorize all military conflicts. That's never happened with either of these campaigns. So expect to see deep looks at both of those things.
CHANG: OK. I hear you on all of these potential investigations, but the thing is, Eric, the cost of living was the huge concern in this election - right? - which is much more concrete than, say, something like public corruption.
MCDANIEL: Yeah.
CHANG: So do you think there is any risk that these investigations could come off as retribution, and only that, against the Trump administration rather than actual oversight and accountability?
MCDANIEL: Totally. I think that's a huge risk. But there are a lot of ways that investigations can look that just aren't necessarily apparent efforts to undermine the presidency. In the post-Watergate era, Jimmy Carter would say this thing, that the public deserved a government as good as its people. And I think the most successful congressional investigations had been able to work toward that goal of transparency.
One example that looms large in my mind, for example, there are allegations that the U.S. military bombed a school in Iran in the early days of the offensive against that country. More than a hundred kids are said to have died. That isn't a topic with a clear partisan lean. It's about establishing a factual record about what happened and what might need to change about how we conduct strikes going forward.
CHANG: I mean, investigations can feel retaliatory. Arguably, that's how so many people characterize the two impeachments of Trump during his first term in office. So could they go down that road again, you think?
MCDANIEL: I just don't see it happening. As best I can tell, there's no momentum, right? And I think the lesson that this has failed as a political strategy is one Democrats have taken on board. But Trump is less popular now than ever before. He's on his way out of office. There's no threat of another term losing. That means the political upside, that they could prohibit him from serving in office again, is gone. And they have such a huge agenda - right? - healthcare, housing, tariffs, education, climate. It's a big world out there, and, you know, they might need to do some table setting for 2028.
CHANG: That is NPR's Eric McDaniel. Thank you so much, Eric.
MCDANIEL: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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