Robert Garcia, set to become oversight chair, vows to take on president while Senator Ron Wyden signals ‘subpoenas’
Robert Garcia, the Democratic congressman set to become the next chair of the oversight committee of the House of Representatives, had two words for Republicans on Tuesday evening: “Lawyer up.”
Garcia issued his statement as a blue wave appeared to take hold across the country after voters cast their ballots in the US midterm elections. Democrats retook control of the US Senate, and are widely expected to do the same in the House.
Ron Wyden, the Democratic senator poised to lead the Senate finance committee, also flexed on his potential future authority. “Subpoenas,” Wyden wrote on X.
With the Senate and House back in Democrats’ control, Garcia, Wyden and other congressional leaders will be able to lead and steer investigations into the US president, his allies and agenda.
Why lawyer up when you already SCOTUS up and pardon up? 🤷♂️
As lame as the Biden Administration was, at least they made Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro (Ron Varo) serve 3 months in prison for blowing off their subpoenas, so that’s not an empty threat. Nobody wants to spend a single day in prison, so three months for these cowardly softies will be like a life sentence.
Honestly steven bannon should be in jail for 100 years
This is what we want to see. Come out swinging. No prisoners. No olive branches. No “reaching across the isle”. They’ve proven what they are and they are not people who should have any power whatsoever. Jail time is too good for some republikkkans.
100%
But first, get Jeffries and Schumer out of their leadership roles along with any other heavy AIPAC supported Dem. I know they spread their money around but it should be pretty clear who was easily bought.
Can we start talking about who we would like to see in those congressional leadership roles?
For starters, here are some potential names for Senate Majority Leader:
Corry Booker[Heard]- Elizabeth Warren
- Jon Ossoff
- Chris Van Hollen
And for Speaker of the House:
- Jamie Raskin
- Ro Khanna
- Robert Garcia
- Pramila Jayapal
Feel free to discuss pros and cons regarding any of them, or add more names to the lists. We need to have this conversation now.
[Edit: Added PJ by request]
Elizabeth Warren and Ro Khanna for the win!
Please no for Cory Booker. His “record breaking” filibuster was just for show and beating Strom Thurmond. He COULD have used it to uphold a few of Trump’s appointments but no. He’s not a fighter apparently.
Good to know, thank you. I’m hearing a lot of similar feedback about him.
Who would you suggest instead?
I would think your other suggestions are fine. I would say Bernie but he might be too old. He doesn’t act like he’s slowing down though.
If you really wanna piss off some people make ilhan Omar the speaker. I’m sure she has a lot of energy to put in work since your DC residence got raided.
Yeah I mean I love Uncle Bernie, but let’s be honest. The man deserves to enjoy a few years of retirement. He’s earned them.
He’s still kickin though, and he’s certainly a man on a mission. I just hope he gets to live to see that mission come to fruition. It feels like it could be just around the corner.
I doubt he’ll retire until he sees the government working for the people like he’s always fought for. But let’s not add to his stress by making him SML. He’s got plenty of younger protegés who could do well.
Ilhan Omar would be awesome as Speaker, I just don’t think it’s realistic to expect enough Dems to back her for it, at least not until progressives break more ground in future elections.
Agreed on all points. The younger politicians need to step up and the progressives (and voters in primaries) need to keep pushing the party to focus on helping the people.
Zohran Mamdani spoke out against Google using their power to force ai search on school students. I’m sure even some conservatives would agree AI searches in schools is a bad thing.
I feel like a kid in a candy store— lots of good options on your list. Does anyone have insight on what happens behind the screen? Is the voting secret like selecting a pope? Can voters affect change through phone campaigns?
It seems like suddenly Jeffries was announced as Pelosi’s replacement without a lot of coverage in the media on how it happened.
It’s typically an internal decision, but I think the legislators vote on it first thing after they’re all sworn in.
You can certainly email/call your senators and representatives and let them know why you feel Schumer and Jefferies aren’t right for the job, and suggest who you would like to see chosen for those roles instead.
It can’t hurt.
I’m not convinced Cory Booker would be a good majority leader. I also think Ossoff is probably too junior to be majority leader.
Makes sense, a lot of people are saying the same about Cory Booker.
And you’re right that Ossoff is still kinda green, but he seems to have a sort of charisma that a lot of politicians lack, and he certainly enjoys widespread support.
I’ve already heard him suggested as a potential presidential candidate, but I thought he seems a little young for that. Give him another term or two in the Senate first in my opinion, then he’ll be a powerhouse in 2036 or so.
Is there anyone you would suggest for SML?
No your list contains Warren and Booker they will be no different then Schumer and Hakeem.
Yeah I’ve been hearing a lot of similar about Booker, fair point. But I’m surprised you say Warren would be the same. She seems to be better, no? This is the first I’ve heard comparing her to establishment Dems.
Also note there are 6 other names on those lists, so no need to dismiss the whole discussion just because there’s two you don’t approve of. Notice I said “potential names” and asked for feedback.
Anything to weigh in about the others? Any names you’d like to see instead? Be a part of the discussion or don’t, it’s your choice, but don’t try to be a conversation stopper.
Fuck Warren the snake be glad when true progressive primary her and remove her from office. Fucking Republican under Regan only went Democratic when they moved to the right and rat fuck Bernie Sanders in the primary because Biden promised her VP. So fuck off with Warren will downvote any mention of her or post about her.
Make it Bernie Sanders, no one says leader needs to be from the party. Only man in Senate can trust, or maybe one new guys but probably not going happen. In Congress AOC, or Omar be great choices.
Thats the opposite of what Hakeem said.
https://youtu.be/sdFWvrhX2qo They may need to muzzle the speaker of the house.
No if you actually watched it he said at the start that the committees, which is what the guys here are on, will be handling that.
It is reasonable for folks at the top to be subject to the laws just like common citizens. Epstein victims still deserve justice.
Looking forward to Democratic leadership voting present and not pursing anything.
God I hope this comes to fruition and that republican butts are puckering right now.
I have lost most of my faith in the Democratic establishment and half expect just enough effort to allow the establishment to think they have performed the bare minimum in performative strongly worded hearing confrontation clips a strongly worded letters of condemnation.
I’m glad to see the fascists lose the majority, assuming a peaceful transfer of power of course. I just won’t be very hopeful until:
- The neoliberal democrats lose their primaries to actual progressives
- A sufficient majority of the progressive candidates stand strong against the pressures of corruption
- Things actually start to change
Yeah, I’m not holding much hope that things will change just because dems got congress. But it’s nice to at least think it will
They better. People tend to think of the elections as the win but this is just the start. Now we voters have to hold the Democrat’s feet to the fire and make them do what we elected them to do. Prosecute those mother fuckers for their crimes and hold them accountable. Trump was the unavoidable result of this country’s refusal to prosecute its former leaders for their crimes. If there is no penalty for all of the crimes of the Trump administration, including blatant murders, then there is no reason for the fascists not to try again. Roast these assholes in their own juices as an example for the next five generations.
The story is still being written. This was Act 1. Now we enter Act 2, and the 2028 Presidential Election and the greatest rebuilding of America since the Civil War, will be Act 3.
We all worked our asses off over the last two years, each contributing in their own way, even if it was just paying attention to what’s going on, and discussing it with others.
But we are still in the middle, and after a short breather, we have to get back to work. 2028 is only 2 years away, and they can’t allow elections to happen, or they are all going to go to prison. So they will fight as hard as they have to crush us, and eliminate elections, and we have to stop them.
Can I have one more day of breather please, preferably Monday? I didn’t have a good opportunity to
crankcrack open my bottle of “republicans get voted out”hogvodka and won’t until Monday.
The smartest thing the fascists could possibly do would be to step back and let the establishment Dems squander this. The only good news is that I don’t think they’re smart enough to do that. Trump sure isn’t, he’ll continue to be stupid, which is helpful for us, frankly.
I’m really hoping the Dems do see the progressive side standing up and let us have some wins so they can stick around longer.
The worst possible scenario is for sane Republicans to have a shot at the Presidency in two years, because with the media’s huge propaganda machine, there is a baseline of support for the fascists. They are THIS fucking crazy, and while we got a blue wave, if you really look at it, it’s not THAT blue. We don’t have a supermajority to impeach and remove. We don’t have SCOTUS. So many states won by such a small amount. I’m not minimizing our victory - this was a GREAT day. But it’s still a huge uphill battle and we have one a single battle with the war still ongoing and still stacked against us.
I’m thankful for today. But now it’s critical to press onward.
Trump repeatedly stated his fear of investigations, and those are likely unavoidable now.
Maybe he shouldn’t have burned through so many lawyers already lol
At this point he’s down to Lawyers who advertise on gas station urinal walls.
And Elon. MF spent half a billion dollars, and got nothing. He’s a much more vulnerable sacrificial lamb for anyone wanting to demonstrate their commitment to punishing Trump-adjacent corruption.
He’ll be fleeing the country in a week.
I heard Don Junior was on plane, fleeing the country, and flinched when someone asked “some peanuts?”
What’s Jack Smith up to these days?
Sharpening his teeth
Fuck I wish that were true.
As long as Schumer and Jeffries are in control, conservatives will be protected. AIPAC doesn’t like in-fighting.
While I agree, I think the demo would do better if they at least tried to pass legislation on items that matter to voters. Iran war, tariffs, and other economic matters.
This election result is clearly about economic dissatisfaction.
Congress is fully capable of doing more than one thing at a time. Yes, they need to pass new legislation and work to improve people’s lives, but they need to rein in Trump before any new legislation will matter. Trump has spent two years ignoring Congress. He’s been withholding funds allocated by Congress and redirecting it to his favored projects. He’s even ignored bipartisan legislation such as the order to release the Epstein files. That isn’t going to change just because of this election. Trump and his minions need to be prosecuted and forced to acknowledge that they are only one third of the American government.
100%
The good thing about the legislation the other person suggested is that it should be short. They don’t need to craft a grand bill to bring the troops home or rescind the power to control tariffs. It will get filibustered or vetoed, but it’s not like Congress stalls while building and voting on it.
Congress is fully capable of doing more than one thing at a time.
<silly>Are they, though?</silly>
(well, mostly silly)
