Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is looking to change the panel’s rules on subpoena powers, prompting Democrats to accuse the Texas Republican of a “power grab.”
The committee will consider a new set of rules at its next markup on Jan. 28, including a provision that would allow Cruz to issue subpoenas unilaterally. Previously, issuing subpoenas required either the consent of the ranking member or a full committee vote.
A senior Democratic aide called the proposed changes an “unprecedented, partisan power grab, which will destroy bipartisanship in the Senate’s most effective workhorse committee.”
The Commerce Committee has an extremely broad jurisdiction — everything from Big Tech to artificial intelligence and transportation. So the rules changes, if approved, would empower Cruz, one of the Senate’s most prominent conservatives, across a range of issues.
In a statement, a GOP committee aide defended the proposed changes as “modest,” saying they’d bring the panel’s rules in line with those of House committees. The aide also noted that similar rules were just adopted by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Here’s more from the aide:
We’re also told that the GOP side of the panel wants to change the rules to allow staffers to question witnesses after senators have concluded their questioning. This is a rare practice in terms of day-to-day committee action, but it has been done before in high-profile settings, like the Brett Kavanaugh hearings and the first impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.
