Democrats are looking to create big headaches for Donald Trump over his unprecedented ethical conflicts.

In the 11 days since the Republican’s upset victory, the president-elect’s political opponents have hammered him for giving no sign that he will follow historic norms and really separate himself from his vast financial holdings. They’re baffled that Trump and his family are still promoting their businesses, especially on an official transition website, and they’re questioning how Trump’s son-in-law can legally land a job in the White House.


As the minority party, the Democrats can’t call official hearings or pump out subpoenas. Still, they are primed to birddog Trump’s administration if it’s caught doing government business that’s seen as lining the president’s own pockets. Even with their diminished numbers, they can run their own investigations, drown Trump’s agencies with requests for public records and inspector general reports, pepper his nominees with questions and just generally work to make Republicans uncomfortable with their oversight of a president who ran on a promise to “drain the swamp.”

Democrats insist it’s not solely a partisan exercise. With Trump having expressed an interest in a major infrastructure plan, equal pay for women, and closing the carried interest tax loophole – all initiatives that appeal to liberals – Democrats say they see a benefit in not having a president distracted by endless ethical scandals. They say it’s good for the country, too.

“I really think it’s doing him a favor to try to make sure he does not step into those mine fields by just simply asking the question: Is this going to be avoided?” Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said in an interview. “I’m not going to wait until he steps into the mine. I just want to know what he’s going to do because I think the American people deserve it.”

While Democrats claim they’re trying to save Trump from himself, the president-elect’s fellow Republicans are laying low.

A POLITICO survey of lawmakers found only a smattering of support among rank-and-file Republicans for aggressive oversight into Trump’s financial situation, and nearly every GOP leader approached for an interview on the topic hunkered down or tried to avoid comment.

Asked if Congress had any oversight role on the potential conflicts connected to Trump’s many businesses, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell smiled and kept walking as he headed off the floor late Wednesday night, declining to say anything at all as he got into a private elevator.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) deflected a question about Trump’s potential conflicts to an aide. "Do you have an opinion on that?" the Iowa Republican asked, before he too stepped in an elevator.

Across the Capitol, the response from some of the chamber’s most powerful Republicans was largely one of indifference.

“That’s beyond my jurisdiction,” said Kentucky Rep. Hal Rogers, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, which is responsible for dishing out federal funds.

“Not for my committee,” added Texas Rep. Kevin Brady, the chairman of the House Ways and Means that has oversight of the IRS, the controversial agency that Trump famously used as an explanation during the presidential campaign as the reason he couldn’t release his tax returns.

“I don’t think that’s something that…the public is going to hold him accountable” for, said Rep. John Shimkus, an Illinois Republican running to chair the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “I don’t think people are thinking he ran for president of the United States to line his pockets.”

A spokesman for House Speaker Paul Ryan deferred questions to Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, the Utah Republican who criticized Trump during the presidential campaign but also promised to continue investigating Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.

Through a spokeswoman, Chaffetz on Thursday said his panel “has a duty and obligation to hold the federal government accountable no matter who is elected president.”

“We will continue to conduct rigorous oversight moving forward," he added.

Oversight, of course, is a sensitive topic when one party controls both chambers of Congress and the White House. It’s not uncommon for something of a détente to be established when the administration and lawmakers carry the same partisan label. But there are political risks to any alliances, or even perceptions of one.

After all, Democrats in 2006 campaigned against the Republicans’ “culture of corruption” under one-party rule with President George W. Bush, and they won control of both the House and Senate that cycle. Republicans then used the rise of the tea party to reclaim the House in the 2010 mid-terms amid charges that Democrats had given the Obama administration a pass on oversight.

Now, it’s the incoming Trump administration that’s positioned to reap the benefits – or perhaps suffer – from total Republican dominance in Washington. The president-elect’s transition aides didn’t respond to requests for comment about how Trump would navigate congressional oversight of any ethical issues. Trump’s main business venture, the Trump Organization, recently issued a statement saying it intended to soon move all of his financial assets over to his three oldest adult children and a “team of highly skilled executives.”

As for questions about how such an arrangement would address conflicts of interest, the organization said it was working on a plan that would “comply with all applicable rules and regulations.”

Democrats, however, don’t like what they’re seeing, and they’re nudging Republicans to join them in examining potential conflicts. Last Monday, Cummings went public with a letter to Chaffetz requesting a formal investigation into the president-elect’s financial set-up, and the Maryland Democrat in a follow-up interview said he’ll keep pressing the GOP chairman to adhere to his promise to pursue Trump in the same manner he’s dug into both the Obama administration and Hillary Clinton.

“I think they’ve set a pretty high standard for looking at our presidential candidates and the presidents,” Cummings said.

Democrats have other avenues to probe Trump, too. Several senators said they’d be prodding the Republican’s Cabinet nominees and even his lower-tier picks, including posing ethical queries during their confirmation hearings.

“I’m very happy that I’m on the Foreign Relations Committee, and I’m going to be asking very penetrating questions of whoever the secretary of State nominee is,” Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, the former Democratic vice presidential nominee, told reporters earlier this week.

Democrats are trying to make points through legislation, too. A bill introduced Thursday by Massachusetts Rep. Katherine Clark, for example, would require both the president and vice president to put all their assets in a certified blind trust or disclose to the Office of Government Ethics and the public whenever they make a decision affecting their personal finances.

On the oversight front, several lawmakers and senior Democratic aides told POLITICO they expect to hear from government employees interested in blowing the whistle if Trump’s appointees cross any ethical lines. They’ll also be making record requests and leaning on the findings from investigations conducted by outside interest groups, agency IGs, the non-partisan Government Accountability Office and the media.

“Don’t short change the minority. You can ask questions. You can call attention. And that’s equally as important,” said Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro.

Among the groups allied with Democrats planning to press Trump on his business dealings is the super PAC American Bridge 21st Century. Last Monday, it filed Freedom of Information Act requests for records involving Trump’s campaign and his transition team and its interactions with the General Services Administration, Office of Government Ethics and the Office of Personnel Management. More inquiries are coming, said Jessica Mackler, the group’s president, as it looks to build on its existing “base of knowledge on his sprawling financial interests” that includes Trump’s legal depositions and dossiers on his close associates.

For Republicans, that so many questions are hovering over Trump’s business dealings means the GOP could suffer from long-term political consequences if party leaders ignore them, said Richard Painter, a former George W. Bush White House ethics lawyer.

“I think the Republicans on the Hill would want to protect Trump’s presidency from a complete disaster or they’re going to get creamed in 2018 and 2020,” he said.

North Carolina GOP Rep. Walter Jones said he welcomed Democrats for asking questions about the potential conflicts of interest, saying that the debate can benefit the Trump administration. “They need to understand this is a serious business. If you’ve got any issue that could be detrimental to your ability to lead, you need to get it fixed now and not later,” Jones said. “He needs to do everything he can to protect his integrity.”

But many other Republicans downplayed the ethical concerns, noting Trump was still some two months from Inauguration Day. Many said they had faith in Trump and his family to make the right moves, and they insisted any problems that emerge would come out in the normal course of Washington’s checks-and-balances.

“The republic’s been around 240 years. We didn’t say George Washington couldn’t have any interest in the affairs of Mount Vernon,” said Oklahoma GOP Rep. Tom Cole said. “These are real problems but there are lots of ethics rules and regulation. And there’s lots of scrutiny, more scrutiny with the presidency of the United States than any other position in the world, from the media to your friends to your enemies.”

“Let’s give the guy a chance to work through this and set up some sort of system,” he added. “We’ll see if it works or not. I hope it does. I trust it will. But if it didn’t, he’ll pay a horrific political price.”

Elana Schor contributed to this report.