Rubén Gallego

Transgender people have zero impediments to service. They should be treated like any other soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine

The Federal Government must live up to its trust responsibility and provide the resources the tribes deserve to address climate change impacts.

Climate change is ignorant of reservation boundaries and treaty land maps, and yet indigenous peoples are often left to fend for themselves in addressing the issues that arise--and that is just not right.

As a body, this Congress can make countless improvements to the lives and well-being of indigenous peoples, and that starts here in this Subcommittee.

Thank you, Doctor. Much appreciated.

We have a lot of ground to cover, and I look forward to working with my friend and fellow Marine, Ranking Member Cook (Oorah!), and the rest of my colleagues, on addressing these and other pressing issues.

As the only Committee with exclusive jurisdiction over these issues in the House of Representatives, we have a great responsibility.

So what have we learned today? Unfortunately, we have learned that our Republican colleagues are unwilling or afraid, either-or, to use their power vested in them by the Constitution on behalf of the American people to keep the executive…

Every committee has jurisdiction over a set of agencies. Those agencies each have something called an inspector general. These officials are responsible for investigating waste, fraud, and abuse at each agency and reporting back to…

Or we could do something really crazy and subpoena all the many administration officials and department heads who have gotten rich and richer by exploiting their public offices for private gain.

It is not. It is very simple. This clause allows House committees to issue subpoenas, which are legal documents that force somebody to do something, in this case either testify or give Congress documents.

I don't know if you know this, Ted, but there is this neat little House rule called House rule XI, clause 2. Have you heard of this?

Subpoenas. What is a subpoena? You are a former Federal prosecutor. Please enlighten us, since somehow this Congress has forgotten that we could do subpoenas.

So let's move on. What is the third thing that we could be doing as Congress to actually put the executive in check, Ted?

It is important to remember the congressional committee chairman gets to decide what topics they hold hearings on. So are you telling me the Judiciary Committee chairman is more interested in Hillary Clinton's emails from 2015 or maybe…

We certainly have brought this up, and we will continue to be pushing this bill until it comes to the floor. Let's move on to lesson 2.

I believe there is an actual bill that has been introduced, specifically, that Ryan could actually bring to the floor, to protect the Special Counsel and not just talk about protecting the Special Counsel.

Ted, for example, could we actually be protecting the Special Counsel from being fired by the President?

Great idea. So, let's start with a new class that we call Welcome to Congressional Oversight 101 or, as I like to call it, Congress for Dummies.

That is a great question. Maybe our friends in the majority have forgotten how to use their power.

That is right. When the U.S. Constitution was drafted in 1787, it included checks and balances that allow the legislative branch, us, to oversee the executive branch, the President. It is part of what makes our Nation great.

But, Ted, did you know that there are actually concrete steps the majority party can take to exercise its power over the administration and hold it accountable for its actions?

Despite their united control of Congress, my Republican friends seem to think there is nothing they can do when Donald Trump acts in a matter that is contrary to our laws and our values. Here is what they have been saying: Congressman Ryan…

In terms of renewables, whether they are mandated or not--I think, in terms of the economics, as Mr. Walker has, that renewables actually end up being economically more feasible than traditional carbon-based energy.

I do not support a takeover of PREPA by the U.S. Department of Energy.