Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) isn’t waiting until after the midterm elections to outline what a Democratic House majority could look like. During an appearance Monday on MSNBC’s The Last Word, she made it clear that if Democrats reclaim control of the House, investigations into President Donald Trump and members of his administration will be high on the agenda.
The conversation began when guest host Jonathan Capehart asked Dean whether Democrats would investigate Steve Witkoff, who has served as a presidential envoy while maintaining private business interests.
“Congresswoman, if Democrats retake the majority in November’s elections, will they look into the dealings of Steve Witkoff in his dual role as being an envoy?” Capehart asked.
Dean didn’t hesitate.
“I’m sure we will,” she replied. “I’m sure that it is a responsible oversight that we will do.”
From there, Dean expanded the discussion beyond Witkoff, suggesting that several figures connected to the administration could come under congressional scrutiny.
“You’ve seen the recent reporting around Mr. Lutnick and Mr. Trump and their sons,” Dean said. “We have to have oversight into the corruption, the cruelty, the rubble and the rot that is this administration.”
Those remarks offer a preview of what Democrats say would be one of their governing priorities if they regain committee chairmanships in the House. A majority would give Democrats subpoena power, the ability to convene hearings, and broad authority to launch investigations into executive branch actions and potential conflicts of interest.
Republicans, meanwhile, have frequently argued that many of the investigations conducted during Trump’s previous term were politically motivated rather than focused on legitimate oversight. That disagreement is likely to become a major issue in the campaign leading up to the midterm elections.
Dean then shifted the conversation away from domestic politics and toward foreign policy, describing a bipartisan dinner she had just attended at the Embassy of Qatar.
According to Dean, lawmakers from both parties met with ambassadors representing Qatar, Oman, and Saudi Arabia to discuss the changing political landscape in the Middle East following the recent conflict involving Iran.
“I just came from a dinner, again, bipartisan Republicans and Democrats,” Dean said. “We were invited to the Embassy of Qatar.”
She said the diplomats consistently emphasized that their governments wanted to focus on future stability rather than revisiting past conflicts.
“They, to a person, said, we don’t want to look back,” Dean explained. “We are where we are, but we want to be responsible partners for peace, responsible partners around Israel.”
According to Dean, two priorities emerged from those discussions. The first was ensuring that the Strait of Hormuz remains fully open to international shipping, a critical issue given the waterway’s importance to global energy markets. The second was preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“They want to work from the basis of this MOU, number one, to get the strait open. Fully, fully. And number two, to be sure that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon,” she finished.
