President Donald Trump has ordered his top aides and department chiefs to refuse to comply with any subpoenas from House members seeking to do additional investigations in wake of the special counsel's report. The Democrats are thinking of issuing a penalty for Trump team members who defy the law.
An Axios report said that Democrats are thinking of withholding funding to departments of subpoenaed witnesses who refuse to cooperate.
Congress' greatest power is using the budget to do the people's business.
"Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee are writing the bills that will fund the federal government for the next fiscal year — including the ones that will fund the Justice Department and the Treasury Department, two of the departments that have been resisting subpoenas," wrote Axios.
A different House committee could ask for the Appropriations Committee to include a clause that would exclude funding to departments that are refusing to comply with subpoenas.
Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) blasted Democratic chairmen Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) for refusing to impeach when it could "help him have access to all kinds of documents." Indeed a Congressional subpoena is also supposed to give you access to all kinds of documents. It's that Trump is refusing to comply with the subpoenas. If Trump were to be impeached, it can be assumed that he would continue to comply with subpoenas.
Discussions for the plot are preliminary according to officials and their staff, but it's part of the conversation.
"We look at it as, 'Okay, what's our recourse?' This is one of them. We also have contempt orders and fines," one aide to a senior Democrat said.
Given how long it takes to approve appropriations bills, the budget plan might not work for a quick option, one House appropriations aide said.
