Democrats vow probes of Musk and Miller — and Jeffries backs impeaching Hegseth
Photo: Aldar NewsIncoming House Democrats put the Trump administration on notice Sunday: Elon Musk and newly named White House chief of staff Stephen Miller will face congressional investigations when Democrats take control in January, and party leader Hakeem Jeffries said he is a "hard yes" on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Rep. Robert Garcia of California, who is in line to chair the powerful House Oversight Committee once Democrats hold the majority, said the investigations will focus on Musk's involvement in the Department of Government Efficiency's firing of federal workers last year, and on Miller's role in the administration's hardline immigration crackdown.
"I think there's a lot of interest, not just from our committee, but from committees across the Congress to speak to Mr. Musk," Garcia said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."
Garcia called Miller the architect of a "horrific, unjust" immigration policy. "Stephen Miller is at the center of the major policy decisions that are happening in the administration, and so it does deserve oversight and investigation," he said.
Jeffries, who is set to become speaker of the House when the new Congress is sworn in on January 3, said separately on ABC's "This Week" that Democrats will not work with Miller, who takes over as chief of staff on Monday, November 9, replacing Susie Wiles.
"There's not going to be any opportunity, certainly, to work with Stephen Miller and what he represents," Jeffries said, calling the appointment "an awful choice" and "irresponsible." He said Miller "unleashed billions of taxpayer dollars to brutalize and kill American citizens, like Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good," two people fatally shot in Minnesota by federal agents during immigration operations. Jeffries added that Democrats will be a "firewall" in Congress against the Trump administration after the November 3 midterms, in which Democrats won control of both the House and the Senate.
Jeffries also said an impeachment vote against Hegseth could come as early as this week and would have "incredibly strong" Democratic support. "Pete Hegseth has got to go," he said.
Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, has said he will reintroduce articles of impeachment against Hegseth. In eight articles, Massie accused Hegseth of conducting the war on Iran without congressional authorization, seizing Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro without constitutional authority, and killing suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean without judicial authorization. The lame-duck Republican majority can kill the impeachment effort in the House by voting to table it.
Attorney General Todd Blanche signaled Sunday that the administration is prepared to fight back, calling threats by some Democrats to target administration officials and allies "not something we can tolerate in this country."
"If that's what this new incoming leadership wants to do, we are ready," Blanche said. "If you work in this administration, you have a lawyer. It's me."
The immigration crackdown at the center of the planned probes has proven widely unpopular. A Reuters/Ipsos poll in October found that only 37% of Americans approved of President Donald Trump's handling of immigration, down from 50% when he took office. Trump named Miller chief of staff on Friday, November 6, three days after the midterm losses, in a move officials and experts said signals the administration will continue its aggressive approach to immigration enforcement, amplify cultural conflicts and give no ground to a Democratic-controlled Congress.
Sources: Reuters, "Democrats eye Musk, Miller probes after midterm rout" (Nov. 8, 2026); USA Today, "Jeffries says Democrats will not work with Trump's new chief of staff" (Nov. 8, 2026).
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