Inside the White House, President Donald Trump's staff is bracing for what's to come as the new Congress begins on Jan. 3.
CNN reported that the staff is well aware that there will be an "onslaught of investigations."
Co-host Kate Bolduan said that "senior staffers are gathering to plan and prepare." They're saying "that they are looking toward taking a newly, quote, unquote, aggressive posture in the face of this new oversight."
The White House has also taken an adversarial approach to oversight during GOP control.
Senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak said that staff was expecting losses, though not on that scale.
"In a lot of ways the White House was anticipating these losses, perhaps not at the scale that we're seeing now," he said. "This was kind of the worst-case scenario, but the idea that Democrats would use these majorities to investigate, to really wield their subpoena power — it's not necessarily a surprise to officials."
It's a topic they've been discussing quietly for the last month or so, he said.
"But this meeting this week was the first time for them to really sit down, regroup, and try and plot a way forward here. How best to combat what they expect to be an onslaught of investigations. You know, the president wasn't in this meeting, but they were also discussing areas where they could potentially work with Democrats," said Liptak.
Thus far, reporting has been that the White House has been preparing for a battle or a kind of last stand.
"And you've heard the president take something of a conciliatory approach to that, at least in public so far, saying that he thought that there could be deals to be had with some of these democrats now that they're in the majority," Liptak said. "I will note that he said the same thing after Republicans lost in the 2018 midterms, and you did not see a new spate of bipartisanship. So, we'll have to see how exactly that proceeds."
Unlike in 2018, however, Trump runs his own show and he has the final word on moving forward on policy matters. If Democrats can convince him they share goals on specific issues, Trump could see it as a chance to change how he's perceived and build a legacy outside the White House ballroom.
Another strategy is to have the president go at it alone with a slew of executive orders, that would likely be challenged in court.
"But I do think it was notable here, the first executive orders that we saw the president signing after those losses, you know, had nothing to do, really, with his governing agenda. He was cementing into these orders that the Oval Office and the Cabinet room become national monuments," the reporter said. "And I think that actually gives you the best sense of where the president's head is, even as his staff try and plot out how they're going to govern for the next two years."
He commented that the only three times Americans have seen Trump this week has been to hear him talk about his construction projects. On Monday, Trump closed out "the last" of "the Trump era" with the Reflecting Pool.
CNN also reports that the White House is "lawyering up," as Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calf.) suggested on the evening on Nov. 3.
"Other Trump administration staff are jumping ship, knowing that they would be likely targets of Democratic committee investigations. They could be replaced quickly in the lame-duck session before Democrats take over," Liptak continued.
That report also revealed that the White House began preparing for a flood of investigations as early as September, though the efforts didn't start in earnest until recently.
"White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, in particular, would often shut down conversations regarding a likely onslaught of oversight probes into those operating at the highest levels of the administration, one of the advisers said, believing it could pull focus away from the campaign," CNN said.
Instead, Wiles told White House counsel to prepare for things, but keep it under wraps. The counsel's office has hired 15 new lawyers in recent months.
“If crazed Democrats want to abuse their power and politicize the process of investigating and subpoenaing and try to destroy lives, they should be reminded that we still control the federal government and all of its powers,” a White House official said.
Other staff are hiring their own lawyers. Politico reported that staff is now being cautious about what they're putting in writing, implying that this was not a concern before for their communication. Politico also said that officials are being told to make sure their financial disclosures are updated and accurate.
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance is trying to figure out his place in the administration as he begins running for president in 2028. Currently, he's taking the approach that the Iran war was the source of all of the anger among Americans.
