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Challenges for Trump’s Democratic overseers

CQ on Congress podcast, Episode 142

Michael Cohen, former attorney for President Donald Trump, testifies during the House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on Wednesday. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
Michael Cohen, former attorney for President Donald Trump, testifies during the House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on Wednesday. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Democrats have ramped up oversight of President Donald Trump and his administration with hearings this week on Trump’s finances, the Russia inquiry, the immigrant child separation policy and more.

But holding hearings and asking questions is only the first step in successful oversight, says Justin Rood, director of the Congressional Oversight Initiative at the Project on Government Oversight and a former staff investigator for Oklahoma GOP Sen. Tom Coburn. Congressional overseers must then grapple with their targets to make sure they cooperate, or cultivate whistleblowers who will provide information outside the standard channels.

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