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Life

What It Means Now That Democrats Control the House

Natalie Matos
Kyra Mackesy
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at TCNJ chapter.

This past Tuesday, citizens all over America went to the polls and provided this presidency the check it so desperately needs.

 

After eight years of being a minority in the House of Representatives, there is now a Democratic majority – but what exactly does this win mean, and how will it affect the next two years of Trump’s term?

 

When the Democrats officially take the House in January, Washington will become intensely divided, as the Republicans retain the majority in the Senate. Because of this, Democrats will most likely not be able to turn any legislations they propose into a reality.

 

What they absolutely will be exercising however, is their investigative powers.

This means that the ethical questions that hound Trump and some members of his Cabinet will finally be thrown into the light. Most notably, the question of President Trump’s tax returns is high on the priority list of the Democratic House.

 

Although they will face some considerable pushback and many legal battles to come, they are determined to see it through. Democrats are going to make sure no stone is left unturned in this administration, and the potential collaboration of Russia during the 2016 election will also be an investigation they plan to undertake. They are raring and ready to use subpoena power if and when they need to.

 

Other potential investigations to look out for concern the administration’s immigration and child separation policies, financial conflicts, voter suppression efforts, and many more. Dems have quite the laundry list and many potential targets about to have their dirty laundry aired. The Democrats must first build up their investigative staff come January to ensure maximum efforts are supporting each and every case they call to the stands. These investigations will be far from easy to win — once started, there will be considerable opposition and roadblocks posed by the administration to drag on the process for months.

 

However the battle plays out, a question many people are wondering is whether or not the House will use their investigative powers to impeach Trump – and the collective answer is no. Even if the Democratic House decided to pursue impeachment as a case, it would never make it past the Republican Senate, so it is not a priority to the House currently and would only take efforts away from cases they can yield results from.

 

The dynamic on Capitol Hill is about to come to an impasse as the two parties attempt to battle it out for the administration’s secrets. While much of the House’s efforts will be focused on these investigations, they do still plan to put forward legislations and some they have mentioned so far would look to lower the cost of prescription drugs and repair the nation’s infrastructure, as well as enhance security for elections and reduce the role of money among political legislations proposed.

 

Yet whether any of their legislations make it through the Republican controlled Senate, there is only so much they can accomplish with President Trump getting the final say.

 

Natalie Matos is a junior at The College of New Jersey majoring in English and minoring in Classical Studies. She loves sharing her thoughts and ideas with the Her Campus community and looks to pursue a career in the Publishing industry.
Kyra Mackesy graduated The College of New Jersey with a BA in Journalism and Professional Writing and a minor in Criminology in 2019. While at TCNJ, she was an active member of their Her Campus chapter, holding a wide array of positions: President and Campus Correspondent, Editor-in-Chief, Senior Editor, Marketing and Publicity Director, and Social Media Manager. She loved seeing her chapter grow throughout her four years in college, and will remain an active Her Campus Alumni.