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The Trump administration is not likely to comply with House Democrats’ oversight attempts if they win the House in November, a senior caucus lawmaker told Semafor on Wednesday.
Speaking at the Banking on the Future Forum, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., made clear that her party would seek to probe potential corruption focused on cryptocurrency and other administration proposals, if it wins the majority in November. But she underscored that she has little hope for Democratic queries getting a response.
“Am I sure that the administration would comply with [what] our needs are? You know better than to ask that question. Of course not,” Waters, who’s the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, told Semafor’s Nicholas Wu.
Trump has “disregarded the Constitution,” she continued. “Can you imagine — if the president of the United States can start a war without even coming to the Congress, that is mandated by the Constitution, what makes you think he would care about anything but what he wants to do?”
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Waters also discussed her priorities should Democrats win control of the House in the midterm elections. She reiterated past proposals for a “trillion-dollar bill” to make housing more affordable by bringing down the cost of land, helping young Americans with down payments, and increasing funding for repairs and renovations of public housing.
Waters said she “absolutely” would want such a bill to be one of the first items that a Democratic House takes up.
And the California Democrat, who is 87 years old, shrugged off talk of stepping away from her post on the Financial Services Committee, even as older Democrats face more challenges from younger colleagues.
“I don’t think we should talk about whether or not we should give up the mantle,” Water said. “I think it should be about supporting the idea that everybody should have an opportunity.”
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- A younger Democrat, Myla Rahman, announced a primary challenge to Waters earlier this year, Politico reported.