Democrats are not even waiting for the new Congress to be sworn in before naming their targets. Top House and Senate Democrats told Fox News Digital they are considering congressional hearings, investigations and potential impeachment proceedings against four senior Trump administration officials: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, White House chief of staff Stephen Miller, border czar Tom Homan and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The admissions came in interviews with Fox News Digital published Wednesday, less than a week after Democrats celebrated sweeping midterm wins. Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., made the party's position plain when asked about possible action against Miller and Homan.
"Our job of accountability doesn't change, we are going to hold everyone accountable that needs to be held accountable," Gallego told Fox News Digital. "Especially if we've seen the violations and any kind of gross abuses."
Gallego was not alone. Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., who introduced articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in April, echoed his remarks and signaled support for further accountability efforts in the House. Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., pointed to the midterm results as a mandate for scrutiny of the White House.
"What we heard from the American people on Tuesday was to put an end to the corruption," Grijalva told Fox News Digital. "We're looking at the executive in the White House making hand over fist millions of dollars while in office."
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., the current vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus and a candidate to lead the conference in January, told Fox News Digital that if elected caucus chairman he intends to discuss with Democratic leadership how to proceed with hearings, investigations and possible impeachment proceedings against Miller and Homan. Lieu singled out Lutnick over the NVIDIA matter.
"Howard Lutnick needs to be investigated over his role in Jensen Huang and the Chinese spy, we're going to have an investigation into those allegations, that's completely unacceptable," Lieu told Fox News Digital.
That refers to the resignation this week of NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang following allegations that he had an affair with Alice Huang, an executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed suspected by U.S. intelligence of being a Chinese spy. Multiple investigative reports claim Lutnick received a classified memo warning him about the relationship and did not act on it, according to Fox News Digital's coverage. Neither Lutnick nor Rubio has been formally accused or indicted of wrongdoing in connection with the NVIDIA case.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a vice chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and a member of the House Select Committee on China, backed investigating Lutnick and would not rule out scrutinizing Rubio.
"I think we need transparency," Khanna told Fox News Digital. "I think we need to understand what they knew."
"Rubio knew about the Chinese spy, and then got invited to the China trip," Khanna continued. "We need to get to the bottom of this."
Neither Khanna nor Lieu explained how they would investigate, prosecute or remove Lutnick, and potentially Rubio. House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination for Speaker, did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment on whether he had spoken to either lawmaker about taking action against the two Cabinet secretaries. It is not yet known whether Republican lawmakers will support the Democrats' investigations.
The four names are not the only front. The New York Times reported that congressional Democrats have sent letters to more than 60 companies, individuals and agencies demanding preservation of documents as potential targets of investigations into the administration's cuts to scientific research, rollback of environmental protections and business deals. The letters came Thursday from top Democrats on two key House committees, according to the Times, and focus on the dismantling of a leading climate and weather research institution, a White House deal with a rare earths company, and what the Times described as a campaign to delegitimize climate science ahead of a regulatory rollback.
The White House pushed back. "If Democrats choose to pursue sham investigations and radical left policies, they are choosing to work against the American people," White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said in a statement to the Times.
What subpoena power actually changes is concrete. For nearly four years Democrats have been in the minority in both chambers, and targets of their information requests have ignored them because they lacked legal authority to compel answers. That ends in January. Every letter, every hearing notice and every subpoena now carries force — and the officials named this week will be the first to feel it.
Our Take
Read the quotes again. Gallego says the quiet part out loud — "we are going to hold everyone accountable that needs to be held accountable" — and the list of who "needs" it was drawn up before a single committee gavel changed hands. This is not oversight. Oversight investigates a lead. This is a hit list with a press release.
Look at the four names. Miller and Homan are the architects of the border enforcement operation voters demanded. Lutnick runs the tariff and trade agenda. Rubio is the tip of the spear against the CCP. Democrats are not targeting these men because of a memo about a spy. They are targeting the four officials who are actually executing the agenda the American people voted for — twice.
And notice the concession buried in their own statements: they have no prosecution, no removal plan, no charge against Lutnick or Rubio. Lieu wants an "investigation into those allegations." Khanna wants "transparency." Translation: they need the theater of hearings because they do not have the votes to undo the policies.
Here is the question every patriot should be asking their representative this week: if Democrats are willing to name impeachment targets before they are even sworn in, what are Republicans doing to make sure a single subpoena for Stephen Miller or Tom Homan dies in committee? Call your congressman. Ask them. Then watch what happens in January.
