“So all of these things, you know, I don’t believe in unilateral disarmament. If this is the way you’re going to operate things in your own majority, then don’t expect that somehow comity is going to return,” Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said Tuesday in an interview.
The standoff threatens to forever alter the balance of power in congressional attempts to conduct oversight of Trump and future administrations.
So far, the numbers are bleak. Since the virus outbreak in early March, House Democrats have sent at least 203 letters to agencies, 173 directly related to the pandemic, and almost all have been rejected or have yet to receive a response, according to data compiled by Democratic advisers, according to data compiled by Democratic advisers.
Nine requests to Cabinet officials for either a formal hearing or just a briefing, sometimes by videoconference, have been rejected.
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