Top Dem on committee fires back after White House counsel warns against overreach amid investigation threats

Counsel to the president William Scharf, in a letter to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Rep.Robert Garcia, D-Calif., warned against Democrats running afoul of their allotted powers pertaining to investigations and subpoenas.But Garcia — who is poised to chair the committee next year when Democrats gain the House majority — fired back, asserting that President Donald Trump's administration is weaponizing the government."I write to remind you of the foundational limits that the Constitution imposes on congressional investigations and subpoenas, which you and members of the new Congress have evinced a clear intent to transgress," Scharf wrote in part of the letter.'LAWYER UP': DEMS IMMEDIATELY PUT TRUMP ON NOTICE AMID REPUBLICANS' MIDTERM BLOODBATHWill Scharf during an executive order signing in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Aug.

6, 2026.(Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)Republicans suffered a drubbing during the 2026 midterms and will consequently be the minority in both chambers of Congress next year.In a statement on Election Day last week, Garcia warned, "Lawyer up."Rep.

Emily Randall, D-Wash., who is also on the committee, declared in a post last week on the social media platform Bluesky, "We’re going to be passing out subpoenas like candy."In his letter, Scharf asserted, "We are monitoring the abusive and capricious threats that are now proliferating from Democrat legislators who seek to abuse the legislative process to intimidate and to interfere with the lawful functioning of government.Recent public statements underscore these concerns.

You and your congressional colleagues have asserted that they will issue subpoenas to harass, threaten, and deter dedicated members of the Administration from further service.""Compulsory process is a power Congress has for oversight functions, and only for oversight functions.Abusive threats and public statements about the indiscrim...