At Final Markup Before Midterms, Huffman Lays Out How Democrats Will Hold the Trump Administration Accountable

Committee Republicans Close Out Two Years of Ignoring Corruption; Democrats Pledge Subpoenas, Hearings, and Sworn Testimony Next Congress

September 15, 2026

Washington, D.C. – Today, during the House Natural Resources Committee’s final markup before the November elections, Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) called out Committee Republicans for two years of enabling corruption in the Trump administration and laid out what Democrats will do with the powers of the majority next Congress:

Watch Ranking Member Huffman speak during committee markup. (September 15, 2026)

“Our Republican colleagues have had two years with President Trump in the White House and a majority in both houses of Congress. They have used that time to hand out favors to Big Oil, giant AI companies, and well-connected lobbyists. Meanwhile, they have turned a blind eye to the rampant corruption spreading across this administration,” Ranking Member Huffman said during the markup. “I have served under presidents of both parties, and I have never seen an administration this openly lawless and corrupt. Officials using taxpayer dollars for personal gain. A system rigged for billionaires and loyalists, leaving the American people struggling to afford health care, gas, and groceries. And through all this, this Committee has stayed silent. They’ve ignored it. They’ve gaslighted about it or just tried to change the subject.”

“Two hundred and fifty years ago, Americans declared independence from a king who answered to no one. When the founders wrote the Constitution, they built a Congress with the power to ask questions, demand answers, and hold the executive accountable. That power comes with a duty, and this duty matters most in moments like this one, when corruption, conflicts of interest, and the blatant misuse of taxpayer dollars threaten the foundations of this great democracy,” Huffman continued. “But I promise you this, if Democrats are in charge, we will follow the evidence. We will put witnesses under oath. We will give the people who sent us here the answers they deserve. That is the job the Constitution gives to Congress. That is what loving this country and upholding your oath of office looks like.”
The Natural Resources Committee holds jurisdiction over some of the most serious corruption allegations of the Trump administration. Republicans have declined to investigate any of them. Democrats stepped up to the plate, conducting ongoing oversight and laying the groundwork to hold Trump accountable.

Committee Republicans’ Record of Ignoring Corruption

Republicans took no action after Committee Democrats released a 55-page interim report, From Vanity to Insanity, showing how the White House used a shadow entity inside the National Park Foundation to hijack America’s 250th birthday, sell access to the President, mislead donors, and harvest Americans’ personal data.
They stayed silent as Democrats demanded records from 23 corporate sponsors of Freedom 250 and asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate whether the organization built a voter contact list for Trump and his allies with taxpayer resources.
They looked the other way as Trump demolished the historic East Wing of the White House for a ballroom funded by secret donors, leaving Democrats to press the National Park Service and the Trust for the National Mall on who is buying in.
They said nothing when Interior handed a no-bid contract for the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to a politically connected firm, a renovation that failed within days; Democrats questioned Secretary Burgum under oath about it.
Republicans voted to block a subpoena of Donald Trump Jr., then shut down the hearing, after his firm took a stake in Vulcan Elements and the administration committed $670 million in taxpayer funds to the company three months later, the largest loan the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital had ever made at that time. Democrats have since demanded documents from Vulcan after reporting showed the White House pushed the loan through.

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