If Democrats win control of the House in November, party leaders plan to turn the final two years of the Trump era into a barrage of investigations over alleged corruption and contempt for the law.
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leaders → win → law
Much of the scrutiny would be expected to come from the Judiciary and Oversight Committees, the traditional engines of congressional investigations.
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Much → expect → investigations
But another, less prominent committee could emerge as an unlikely center of the fight: the House Natural Resources Committee.
uncertain
committee → emerge → fight
The 45-member panel has oversight over virtually all federal lands, giving it jurisdiction over a striking collection of controversies that have defined President Trump’s second term.
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that → have → term
That includes his efforts to remake Washington, D.C. by building a White House ballroom and a triumphal arch, and the troubled renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
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That → include → Pool
It also covers the Administration’s efforts to open up national parks to an unprecedented amount of hunting, fishing and drilling, as well as a recent proposal to give a swath of California’s Yosemite National Park to a private developer.
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It → cover → developer
“We are no longer a backwater here at the Natural Resources Committee,” Rep. Jared Huffman, the committee’s top Democrat, tells TIME.
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Huffman → tell → TIME
“You check a lot of boxes with the Natural Resources Committee in terms of some of the most high-profile controversies in this Administration.”
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You → check → Administration
Huffman, who is likely to become the committee’s chair in a Democratic House, spoke to TIME this month from his Capitol Hill office decorated with paintings from the Muir Woods National Monument, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and other public lands in his coastal California district.
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who → become → district
Leading the House Natural Resources Committee has been the ultimate goal for the former environmental lawyer since he joined the House in 2013.
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he → lead → 2013
“This is the top of the mountain for me,” he says.
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he → say → me
“This is what I always wanted.”
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I → want → what
Huffman has a running list of the investigations he would pursue if he takes the gavel.
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he → have → gavel
His plans would amount to a striking transformation for a committee more commonly associated with debates over endangered species, grazing rights, and federal water projects.
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plans → amount → species
Since Trump returned to office, committee Democrats have tried to investigate and call attention to Administration actions while lacking the authority to compel cooperation.
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Democrats → return → cooperation
With control of the House, those requests could be backed by subpoenas, sworn depositions, and public testimony from Administration officials, contractors, and private companies.
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requests → back → officials
Huffman says he expects a wave of government employees to approach the committee as whistleblowers, feeling more confident that Democrats will act on their concerns.
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Democrats → say → concerns
“There are principled, patriotic Americans working in all of these federal agencies that are horrified with the corruption and illegality that’s been happening around them,” he says.
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he → be → them
“Some of them have already been helpful, but I think many, many more will come forward under a Democratic majority.”
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more → think → majority
The Trump Administration says the changes to federally controlled land are intended to make the District of Columbia “safe and beautiful” by restoring monuments, cleaning up federal parkland, and improving public safety.
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District → say → safety
Under its current rules, the Natural Resources chairman has broad authority to issue subpoenas for testimony and documents.
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chairman → have → testimony
The precise scope of that position’s power in the next Congress would depend on the rules adopted by the House and the committee next year.
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scope → depend → House
The Trump Administration could also refuse to comply with some subpoenas, producing lengthy court battles.
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Administration → refuse → battles
Huffman is perhaps best known on Capitol Hill as the founder of the Freethought Caucus, which counts 37 members and advocates for church-state separation and true religious freedom.
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which → know → separation
Last month, he published a book, No Prophets: The Fight to Save Democracy from Christian Nationalism.
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he → publish → Nationalism
But if he gets the gavel, his work investigating the Administration would shift to the forefront.
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work → get → forefront
Huffman says he intends for the committee to revisit many of the Administration’s decisions from the previous two years.
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committee → say → years
“We will not only be doing the oversight that presents itself on our watch,” he says.
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he → do → watch
“We will be doing two years of catch-up for a Republican Congress that looked the other way in the face of all this corruption, self-enrichment and illegality.”
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that → do → corruption
The committee’s most visible investigations could target what Huffman calls Trump’s “vanity projects” including the $400 million, 90,000 sq. ft. White House ballroom being built on the site of the demolished East Wing.
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Huffman → target → Wing
Last month, the Supreme Court allowed the construction to move forward, after a lower court had halted the work saying Trump did not have the authority to build the ballroom without congressional approval.
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Trump → allow → approval
The President is also set to break ground on a 250-foot “triumphal arch” near the Arlington National Cemetery that would be taller than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
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that → set → Paris
He has also proposed erecting hundreds of statues in a Garden of American Heroes and transforming the East Potomac Golf Links into a championship-level course.
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He → propose → course
Some of the projects have moved forward without congressional authorization or have been reviewed by commissions that Trump has filled with allies.
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Trump → move → allies
The Administration has maintained that the work is legal and will restore grandeur to the capital.
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work → maintain → capital
"It's a dramatic abuse of the public trust for one man's ego,” Huffman says of the projects.
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Huffman → say → projects
“It's also a direct attack on the rule of law because we have long had laws like the Commemorative Works Act that spell out in great detail how monuments and other structures in the nation's capital get authorized and built.”
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monuments → have → capital
Huffman says that if Democrats win the House the committee would seek records showing how the projects were approved, how much public money had been spent, and whether donors received or sought favorable treatment from the Administration.
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donors → say → Administration
The private financing, he says, would receive particular scrutiny.
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he → say → scrutiny
He wants to know who donated, how much they contributed and what business they had before the federal government.
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they → want → government
…and 44 more, not listed.
