Democrats are sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for a whole set of investigations to be launched against Donald Trump in the House in 2019, as the House majority gained by them in midterms gives them subpoena powers.
"Don't wring your hands about investigating Trump," The Washington Post's Greg Sargent wrote, addressing House Democrats.
"President Donald Trump's famously opaque business will face a bracing new reality next year when House Democrats hit it with a flurry of subpoenas for the first time," predicts Bloomberg's Shahien Nasiripour.
Earlier, The Washington Post outlined 12 issues the Democrats plan to investigate when they take over in January 2019. These ‘targets' include the alleged ‘Russian interference,' acting attorney general Matthew G. Whitaker, Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, ‘media targeting,' tax returns, and other matters.
Speaking to Sputnik, Wall Street analyst and investigative journalist Charles Ortel admitted that "corporate-owned media outlets and Democrats surely will up their clamor for action against President Trump, his family, and his administration".
"There is little that Republicans can do to change that reality," he added.
Ortel presumed that if economic growth slows down, Democrats ‘might be able to build momentum against President Trump'.
Furthermore, according to the investigative journalist, "a Democrat controlled House could [even] vote out one or more Articles of Impeachment after using extensive hearings to damage President Trump's reputation". However, their efforts are unlikely to prove effective in the Republican-held Senate, he stressed.
"Barring new developments the plot to impeach and convict President Trump for 'treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors' is destined to fail in the US Senate, where a two-thirds vote is required to obtain a conviction on any impeachment count," Ortel said.
House May Turn Into a 'Nonstop Battleground'
It appears that the House will turn into a battlefield starting from January 2019. The Atlantic's Uri Friedman foresees that "a divided Congress means that House Democrats will take more of an investigative posture than a legislative one".
He also added that in 2019 Trump will need Congress's approval to conclude new trade agreements — the backbone of his foreign policy — including the newly renegotiated NAFTA, and any future pacts with Japan or post-Brexit UK.
Commenting on the issue, Ortel opined that "it is likely that the House of Representatives will be a nonstop battleground between economically prudent nationalists, and economically illiterate, mob loving, globalists".
However, "if economic conditions worsen and if markets crash, then Americans and others around the world will push for sensible actions in the US to bring our debt and government deficits under control," Ortel suggested.
Will Trump Become a Lame Duck President?
The question then arises whether the Democratic majority in the House can make Trump a ‘lame duck president' by derailing the president's initiatives and pushing ahead with its own agenda.
The Wall Street analyst responded that in that case "a 'do-nothing' House of Representatives that pushes hard-left programs to expand the size and cost of government but fails to pass any of these plans into law likely will be voted out of office in 2020".
He recalled that the tactics employed against US Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh ‘ultimately backfired'.
"Should Democrats fire up similar tactics against the Trump Administration for two very long years, I believe they actually may give President Trump the upper hand in the 2020 elections, should he decide to seek re-election," Ortel said.
In an earlier interview with Sputnik, the Wall Street analyst noted that one should not underestimate a potential alliance between ‘economically conservative Democrats' and pro-Trump Republicans. "Ironically, forging consensus in the House starting in 2019 may prove much easier than it was during the first two years," the investigative journalist presumed on the heels of the US midterm elections.
'I'm Better at That Game Than They Are'
It seems that Donald Trump is not going to give up: Addressing a press conference after the 2018 midterm vote the US president called upon House Democrats to maintain cooperation and warned them against using the House to go after him.
"They can play that game, but we can play it better, because we have a thing called the United States Senate and a lot of questionable things were done between leaks of classified information and many other elements that should not have taken place. I could see it being extremely good for me politically because I think I'm better at that game than they are, actually, but we'll find out," Trump emphasised.
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