Dem
51
GOP
49
As we pointed out yesterday, House Republicans are going to investigate Hunter Biden's laptop nine ways to Sunday. That's a given. It may also be the only thing the House Republicans do.
However, thanks to Sen.-elect John Fetterman (D-PA), the Democrats will have majorities on each Senate committee in January and the chairs will have subpoena power. And they intend to use it. To reward Fetterman, Schumer should create a Committee on Investigations and make Fetterman chairman, even if the other chairs would balk at that.
Talks are now underway about who gets to investigate what. Two items where the Senate is likely to pick up where the House Democrats left off are the oil industry's responsibility for climate change and Donald Trump's tax returns. But part of the plan is not only about the specific topics. The senators all realize that the media have a fetish about "balance." They know the media will cover the Hunter Biden laptop stories in detail, so they want to provide "balance" by providing other investigations the media can report.
One senator who can't wait to start is Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who is chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. He has a whole laundry list of what he wants to investigate, including why healthcare is more expensive in America than anywhere else in the world and also union-busting practices at big companies. Sanders with subpoena power is probably not something CEOs of big companies are looking forward to. Jeff Bezos of Amazon is probably talking to his lawyers already (Full disclosure: Bezos does not own Electoral-Vote.com, though that could change for the low, low price of $1 billion). At Starbucks, Howard Schultz will be replaced by Laxman Narasimhan on April 1, 2023, so one of them is likely get a subpoena, depending on its timing. Union busting is something Sanders cares about a lot.
However, the 2024 Senate map for the Democrats is brutal, so the senators have to be careful not to look partisan for fear of upsetting independents. Nevertheless, there are plenty of areas of inquiry that most independents would consider legitimate. Certainly few of them would be upset by an inquiry into why Americans pay more for health care than anyone else. We can give you a sneak preview of the results of such an inquiry: In most other countries, the government negotiates directly with the pharmaceutical companies over prices and generally plays a large role in the health-care system. Remember, you saw it here first.
Since the House Republicans are going to be looking at the doings of Joe Biden's spawn, Senate Democrats think it is legitimate to ask a few questions about Donald Trump's spawn and spawn-in-law, especially Jared Kushner. Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Ron Wyden (D-OR) has already said that Kushner's business is on his radar. One question that might come up is: "How come the Saudis gave young Jared $2 billion to invest?" Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman probably would ignore a subpoena. However, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, the country's biggest bank, is nominally a Democrat (and one who loves the spotlight) so he would probably be happy to answer questions like: "Did the Saudis invite you to bid on a contract to invest their money?" If it turns out the Saudis didn't ask any of the big banks for bids on investing their money, Wyden may start wondering how Kushner got the contract and might just call him to testify on the matter.
Also on Wyden's plate is the matter of Donald Trump's taxes. A 1924 law gives the Chairs of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee the authority to get anyone's tax returns. After a 2-year battle, the former, Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA), got them. Is Wyden going to send an intern over to the other side of Capitol with a note asking Neal for a copy? That might be quicker than asking Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, which could start the circus all over, although Yellen might just hand them over to Wyden without telling Trump, based on the Supreme Court decision that got Neal the tax returns in the first place. Wyden isn't talking about his plans on this front, but he is keenly aware of the situation. Wyden has been in Congress for over 40 years now. He knows how things work.
Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) was chairman of the DSCC and did a spectacular job holding every incumbent's seat and even picking up Pennsylvania. His colleagues want him to do it again. However, he knows the map is brutal and might prefer someone else to get the blame for a disastrous 2024 performance. If he refuses, he will have ample time to focus on the work of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, of which he is chair. This committee has broad powers to investigate pretty much anything related to the homeland or the federal government. Peters would undoubtedly see this as a target-rich environment.
The bottom line here is that the House will not be alone running investigations. There is a huge danger for the Republicans that the public comes to perceive an investigation into why drug prices are so high in the U.S. as being a lot more serious than an investigation into d*ck pics on Hunter Biden's laptop. (V)