Rep. Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, signaled Trump administration inquiries after Democrats won the House, putting him in line to chair the panel.
Garcia said, “Lawyer up,” in a statement issued after his party secured the House majority. The Associated Press also called the Senate for Democrats in the Nov. 3 midterms. Its election-night calls showed Democratic gains of at least seven Senate seats and more than two dozen House districts; those figures are not certified totals.
The committee’s Democrats said Garcia would become chair. The committee’s Democrats called the handling of Jeffrey Epstein files a cover-up and cited alleged abuses involving the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They separately identified alleged Trump family corruption and corporate corruption as proposed subjects of oversight. The statement announced no subpoena or hearing.
Before the election, Garcia told Bloomberg News that a review of the administration’s handling of Epstein records would be a priority if Democrats won the House. Sara Guerrero, a spokesperson for Garcia, told Politico that lawmakers also planned to examine Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s work in the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency.
In a separate election-night phone call with CBS News, President Donald Trump congratulated Democrats and said he looked forward to working with them. His remarks concerned the election result, rather than Garcia’s warning.
House historical records list 1946, 1994 and 2006 among earlier midterms when both chambers changed party control. Garcia is expected to chair the oversight panel when the next Congress convenes. Under the current committee rules, its chair can issue subpoenas within the committee’s jurisdiction and order depositions after consulting the ranking member.
The next Congress has yet to establish its committee rules. It is due to convene at noon EST on Jan. 3, 2027, unless a different day is set by law.
