Democrats issuing 'a blizzard of subpoenas' against Trump isn't constructive, argues former Republican senator
Democrats should focus on defeating Trump in 2020, argues Larry Pressler
As Democrats take control of the U.S. House of Representatives, a veteran Republican senator is concerned about how some lawmakers may wield their increased power.
Larry Pressler was one of 44 former senators who signed an opinion piece in the Washington Post recently, saying that this new session of Congress was kicking off at an "inflection point" where the "principles of our democracy and our national security interests are at stake."
He told The Current's guest host Geoff Turner that the piece was aimed at both sides of the House, not just at the Trump administration.
"I am very concerned about some of the new House leaders' language," said Pressler, who served as a Republican senator for South Dakota from 1979 to 1997.
"[Jerrold] Nadler from the state of New York, the new chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has announced that he's going to start issuing a blizzard of subpoenas, that every federal agency is going to be investigated and sued and so forth," he said.
Pressler added that he felt this wasn't "a constructive thing to do."
"These people should be working on defeating President Trump in 2020 at the ballot box. That's my concept of democracy."
The Democrats take control of Congress in the middle of a government shutdown that has lasted 13 days, after U.S. President Donald Trump's demand to fund the border wall met with strong opposition from the Democrats.
To discuss what the shift in power will mean for the Trump administration, and the state of U.S. politics in general, Turner spoke to:
- Larry Pressler, former US Senator (Republican) from South Dakota from 1979 to 1997.
- Rob Goodman, was a Democratic speech writer and is now a postdoctoral fellow in political science at McGill University.
Click 'listen' near the top of this page to hear the full conversation.
Produced by Alison Masemann.