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It authorizes House committees to file lawsuits in federal court seeking orders from judges to compel officials to cooperate with official congressional demands for testimony or evidence.
The Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives voted Tuesday to give lawmakers clear authority to sue Trump administration figures who defy congressional subpoenas.
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In an escalation of wide-ranging probes of President Donald Trump and his inner circle, lawmakers voted 229-191 along party lines to approve the measure.
It authorizes House committees to file lawsuits in federal court seeking orders from judges to compel officials to cooperate with official congressional demands for testimony or evidence.
House Republicans dubbed the measure as a “media-grabbing” stunt. While their Democrat counterparts acknowledged the unprecedented nature of the resolution.
“This has not been done before. But neither have we ever seen blanket stonewalling by the administration of all information requests by the House,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler said. “We must go to court to enforce the subpoenas.”
The measure authorizes the House Judiciary Committee to seek a court order enforcing subpoenas relating to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.
The committee is seeking an unredacted version of the report, as well as underlying evidence from the investigation, and related documents and testimony.
The first to face this action will be former White House Counsel Don McGahn, a star witness in the Mueller report, who last month defied a subpoena for his testimony and documents after the White House directed him not to cooperate with the Judiciary panel.
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