The top House Democrat on Thursday vowed to effectively end the Trump presidency if Democrats win control of the chamber in the midterms — an outcome Democrats are increasingly confident about.
A top priority will be going after Trump administration officials allegedly “enriching themselves,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat.
“The American people are demanding that action be taken and that we hold the crooks accountable,” he said at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol.
Mr. Jeffries recently drew criticism from the left for meeting privately with Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and envoy, to discuss areas of possible cooperation if Democrats win the House majority.
Since then, Mr. Jeffries has emphatically promised that a Democratic majority will impose consequences on those he alleges are engaged in corruption.
The Democrats’ check on the Trump team could include impeachment of the president and members of his Cabinet.
“We haven’t ruled anything out when it comes to all of the tools available to us to hold people accountable, and we haven’t ruled anything in,” Mr. Jeffries said.
He also promised to end the war in Iran.
“You’re going to see House Democrats continue to relentlessly push to end this reckless and costly war of choice,” Mr. Jeffries said.
It may be easier said than done, as an abrupt exit would likely leave Iran able to disrupt energy shipments and attack neighboring countries.
Vice President J.D. Vance recently said an abrupt withdrawal from the war would trigger “a worldwide energy crisis, so long as the Iranians keep on shooting at shipping, which we know that’s exactly what they would do.”
Mr. Jeffries said the U.S. needs to return to the type of diplomacy with Iran used by President Obama, who brokered a deal in which Tehran promised to end its nuclear weapons program in exchange for relief from international sanctions.
“The problem that we confront at this moment is not ending the war. We’re determined to do that. It’s that we don’t have a president who has the ability to pursue that type of diplomacy. … We can start to correct that by taking back control of the House,” Mr. Jeffries said.
White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales told The Washington Times in response to Mr. Jeffries’ remarks, “President Trump is focused on retaining Republican majorities in Congress and doubling down on the progress he has made. … Democrats have no agenda to improve the lives of the American people, just plans to obstruct and baselessly target President Trump’s commonsense, America First agenda.”
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