Why House Democrats need to put up a fight on Fauci's

testimony

Opinion by Elie Honig

Updated 1015 GMT (1815 HKT) May 5, 2020

"(CNN)House Democrats last week sought testimony from Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, about the Trump administration's handling of the coronavirus crisis. The White House quickly stepped in to block it, claiming that Fauci's testimony would be "counter-productive." Now the ball is back in the House Democrats' court, and they've given no indication of doing anything more than dropping it and skulking away.

But if House Democrats ever intend to get real answers about the administration's response to the coronavirus from Fauci or anybody else they need to toughen up.

If this all sounds familiar, that's because it is. Just in the past year, we've seen this lopsided dance between Congress and the White House, time and again first when the House tried to investigate after the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report, then during the impeachment investigation (and, in between, over testimony from Attorney General William Barr). Each time it's been the same pattern: The House demands crucial information, the White House tells the House to take a hike and the House does next to nothing to stand up for itself.

Sure, there have been rare exceptions. A few courageous executive branch employees Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, former Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch and others defied White House instructions and testified in the House impeachment proceedings. And the House (after inexplicably waiting nearly four months after the release of the Mueller report) finally went to court and followed through in its effort to compel testimony from former White House counsel Don McGahn.

The still-ongoing McGahn case, and possibly the pending Supreme Court case involving Trump's tax returns, will answer a crucial question: Will the courts step in and compel the executive branch to comply with congressional subpoenas? If the ultimate answer from the courts is "no," then it's game over, as the White House can freely disregard House subpoenas with no legal intervention."

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