Congressional Investigations

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Congressional investigations have continued to play a significant role in the 117th Congress. In February 2021, we predicted that the Democratic majorities in both the House and the Senate would target investigations at the private sector, and this prediction turned out to be correct. Already in 2021, committees in both chambers have launched investigations across…

Throughout recent months, we have closely monitored important developments in the courts and on Capitol Hill related to Congress’s power to issue and enforce subpoenas for documents or witness testimony.  As members of the 117th Congress continue to develop legislative and oversight priorities, a number of recent events signal continued uncertainty in congressional subpoena authority and interest in Congress in clarifying and strengthening that authority.  As discussed below, these recent developments hold significant implications for Congress’s ability to compel cooperation with their investigations.
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Continue Reading Recent Developments Shed Further Light on Congressional Subpoena Authority

Earlier today, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform’s “Oversight Plan” was published. The Oversight Plan provides a very useful roadmap of the Committee’s investigative priorities and should be seen as a fair warning to the industries and companies identified in the plan.

In a client alert today, we review key portions of the Committee’s…

Financial institutions are consistently targets of congressional oversight interest. In the last Congress, House and Senate committees held hearings with, demanded documents from, requested interviews with, and hosted briefings from a number of bank and non-bank financial institutions regarding a variety of issues. In a recent client alert, we looked at recent trends in…

Recently, the Senate adopted a power-sharing agreement providing some contours for organizing the equally divided body.  As we have discussed previously, such agreements are very rarely needed.  The Senate has only faced a 50-50 partisan split a handful of times.  The most recent instance, in 2001, prompted the first power-sharing agreement, which served as a…

In recent months, we have highlighted key developments on Capitol Hill and discussed the implications of the change in Administration on the pace and focus of congressional investigations.  With a Democratic majority now in both the House and the Senate, investigations targeting the private sector are primed to take center stage in the new Congress.…

As the calendar turns from 2020 to 2021, we are taking stock of congressional investigations over the past two years, and assessing events in the recent weeks that help to shed light on the likely trajectory for congressional investigations in 2021.

  • In late October, we considered congressional investigations in the context of the upcoming election.

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Understandably, much of the commentary following the release of the Supreme Court’s blockbuster decision in Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP has focused on the impact of the Court’s ruling on the long-running quest for the President’s tax returns and other financial records.  Buried in the Court’s opinion, however, is an easily overlooked aside regarding the…

In a unanimous ruling, the D.C. Circuit shed new light this week on the applicability of key federal criminal statutes on proceedings before the Office of Congressional Ethics (“OCE”).  While largely removing the prospect of criminal obstruction liability for parties responding to inquiries from OCE, the court’s opinion is another reminder of the potentially…