Mass CEO resignations eyed as plan hatched to haul corporate titans before Congress

Top congressional Democrats have been reading a 181-page dossier that urges them to go after hundreds of executives and companies once they hold power next year, The Washington Sun reported on Thursday.

The document, written by the think tank Groundwork Collaborative and reviewed by the Sun, argues the party should aggressively investigate big corporations, among them tech giants, AI labs, natural gas companies, private prisons and nursing home operators.

The Sun said it was spearheaded by former staffers for Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Multiple sources say House Democrats on the Judiciary and Oversight committees have been reviewing it, along with Warren, caucus leaders, and chiefs of staff for incoming senators.

The plan pictures a run of hearings where executives are pressed to resign or repay consumers, on topics such as landlord junk fees, AI and online sports gambling, credit card pricing and grocery chains’ use of shopper data. Groundwork’s Alex Jacquez said Trump controversies like the Qatari jet and Reflecting Pool renovation are “not interesting or motivating to anybody but hard-core Democrats,” and urged focusing on corporations voters blame for high prices.

“We’re talking resignations of major CEOs, hauling people in, material restitution,” said Groundwork’s Lindsay Owens.

The Sun reports Democrats are split. Centrists warn against repeating what they see as the Biden administration’s anti-business stance, and Third Way’s Jim Kessler urged fewer targets: “Big targets. Fewer targets. Go deep.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who is set to take over the powerful House Judiciary Committee, said his staff is reviewing opportunities but that “we’re not targeting particular corporations.”