DPCC Co-Chair Lieu: Congress Has a Constitutional Obligation to Provide Meaningful Oversight
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Ted Lieu, Co-Chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC), appeared on Hardball With Chris Matthews on MSNBCto discuss Trump's State of the Union Address and Congress' constitutional obligation to provide meaningful oversight. Below are excerpts from the interview. Click to watch Part 1 and Part 2
"That's right, Chris. I think one of the most surprising things the President said was that he was somehow not going to work with us on legislation if we investigated him. That's not how it works. Members of Congress take an oath to the Constitution. We have a duty to both pass legislation and conduct oversight over the other two branches. We're not going to abdicate one for the other. We will investigate Donald Trump and we will pass legislation."
"Right. Well, first of all, Mueller's investigation is not partisan. He happens to be a Republican who's investigating the Republican President. And this Friday the House Judiciary Committee, on which I sit, we're going to call in [Acting Attorney General] Matt Whitaker and question him under oath. I don't think he knew what he was really talking about when he said the Mueller investigation was going to end any time soon because we saw with the Roger Stone tranche of evidence that they found, there's lots of issues to go there and it doesn't seem like it's going to conclude any time soon."
"I just want to remind the President and Republicans that Social Security and Medicare are socialist-type programs. And it's absolutely true, Democrats want to expand Social Security and Medicare. And that's what we should be doing in our country. If the President wants to run on that, terrific. We will beat him at it. I do think the President instead is going to revert back to the wall and the big scary caravans he keeps talking about. I just want to note that these scary caravans present themselves at our legal checkpoints. They don't end up in Michigan, Wisconsin or Pennsylvania."
"The two best things about the State of the Union tonight were that when you looked at Congress, you saw the most diverse Congress in U.S. history. First two Native American women in Congress. First two Muslim American women in Congress. The youngest woman in the Congress ever. And the second best thing was to see Speaker Pelosi sitting behind Donald Trump looking down at him."