Democrats—and some Republicans—suspect that the Trump administration is using shutdown-related delays as excuses to get out of providing documents and records to Democrats launching investigations on various House committees.
According to a Tuesday Politico report, Democrats are quickly tiring of the administration’s general lack of preparation to respond to oversight after two years of protection from a Republican congress.
“We are concerned that the administration is using the shutdown as an excuse to slow roll their responses to our reasonable requests,” a Democratic staffer told Politico. “Congress’ oversight role is crystal clear. Just because the administration is not used to rigorous oversight does not excuse not being prepared for it, even after a shutdown.”
The House Oversight Committee in particular has requested information about payments Trump made to Michael Cohen and about security clearances at the White House—both requests are still unfulfilled.