Incoming House Oversight Committee chairman: First hearing will not be ‘what a lot of people expect’

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said Sunday that the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has yet to determine the focus of its first hearing in the next session of Congress, but suggested it will examine health care or other “day-to-day” issues.

“I can guarantee you that it will likely not be what a lot of people expect,” Cummings, the likely incoming chairman of the committee, said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“It will probably be something regarding skyrocketing drug prices … things of that nature that people have to deal with on a day-to-day basis, and, of course, the Affordable Care Act,” Cummings added. “We’re going to certainly be taking a look at that. And we’re going to make sure that it stays enforced.”{mosads}

“I plan to run our committee like a federal court house, court room. I want civility and we will address subpoenas in a very systematic way,” incoming Democratic House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings says. pic.twitter.com/zMLXgsW6q0

— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) December 16, 2018

The Democrat also cited the Trump administration’s efforts to add a citizenship question to the census as a likely area of concern for the committee. 

Cummings indicated that those subjects will be more of a focus than issuing subpoenas to investigate the president or his administration.

“We may very well get to that point,” he said. “But I plan to run our committee like a federal courtroom. I want civility. And we will address subpoenas in a very systematic way.”

Democrats have pledged to use their recently won House majority to conduct investigations and oversight focused on the Trump administration’s policies, the president’s finances and interactions with foreign governments, and Ivanka Trump’s use of private email, among other subjects.