Did you know what a "resolution of inquiry" was before today? (I didn't.) Anyway: It's a special kind of tool Congressional representatives in the minority party can use to get information from the White House, and it's also a tool that potentially allows Democrats to bypass GOP-controlled committees in order to do so.
Freshman Washington representative Pramila Jayapal, along with Representative David Cicilline (Rhode Island), introduced a "resolution of inquiry" today that asks the Trump administration to turn over all documentation regarding Attorney General Jeff Sessions' involvement in the firing of former FBI director James Comey.
Unlike other bills introduced in Congress, a resolution of inquiry has "privileged parliamentary status"—meaning that if the House Committee on the Judiciary doesn't consider this request within two weeks, the request can be brought straight to the House floor.
In a statement released this morning, Jayapal said that the resolution could force the House of Representatives to consider possible obstruction of justice from the Trump administration during the Department of Justice's Russia investigation.
“Our resolution of inquiry will force the House Committee on the Judiciary to consider allegations of obstruction of justice involving the Justice Department," Jayapal said. "The Senate Judiciary Committee is taking action on the matter. We need the Republicans on our committee to wake up and take these issues seriously. We have a duty as members of Congress and the Judiciary Committee to exercise oversight over the administration and the Justice Department.”
The House Intelligence Committee has been labeled something of a clown car since digging into its own Russia investigation. (Remember that time Republican congressman Devin Nunes met with Trump officials on White House grounds in order to view classified intel, then briefed Trump on that intel before members of his own committee?) Nunes eventually recused himself from the probe, and Texas congressman Michael Conaway, who has minimized the idea of a Russian election intervention in the past, took over.
The last time a Democrat introduced a resolution of inquiry on Trump's Russia ties, it was defeated by a 40-member panel of representatives convened by the House Judiciary Committee. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-New York) introduced a resolution asking the Department of Justice to turn over documentation on any possible criminal investigation of Trump, but House Judiciary Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Virginia) labeled the resolution “unnecessary" and "premature."
Still, Dems considered the measure a "partial victory," according to Politico. Here's what they published at the conclusion of the last attempt to bring a resolution of inquiry to the House floor:
Though Republicans voted down the measure, the vote itself was a partial victory for Democrats, who forced many of the committee’s 23 Republicans into the uncomfortable position of rejecting a call for greater oversight of Trump’s potential conflicts.
Jayapal and Cicilline's resolution of inquiry could chart a new path for Congressional representatives to investigate the Russia allegations, make Republicans look bad, or piss off the House Intelligence Committee. Jayapal's savvy. Can't wait to see what happens next.
