Will Congress Finally Rein in the Presidency?

History tells us that constitutional oversight can be a powerful tool -- if wielded correctly.

In the midst of a wild election night on Nov. 3, Representative Robert Garcia, Democrat of California and the incoming chair of the House Oversight Committee, had a gleeful message for Trump officials: "Lawyer up." When Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress in January, they would investigate corporate corruption, "the Trump crime family" and more, Garcia vowed.

The Constitution tells us what that accountability could look like. The framers gave Congress the authority to exercise oversight, including by investigating government corruption or failure in the executive branch. When the members of the next House and Senate take their seats in January, President Trump will still have his veto pen, which limits the laws they can pass. By contrast, their power to scrutinize his administration's actions will be broad and independent. Lawmakers can investigate any problems they think they could address through legislation. Their power of inquiry is an "essential and appropriate auxiliary to the legislative function," the Supreme Court said in 1927, a principle it has since consistently upheld.

As Garcia suggested, Trump's brash approach to governing has provided many targets for Congress. Along with the stream of reports involving self-enrichment by Trump's inner circle -- including $500 million in agreed-upon payments from a firm linked to the government of the United Arab Emirates for a stake in the Trump family's cryptocurrency firm -- Democrats could look into the tactics of ICE, the defiance of court orders, the lethal boat strikes by the military against supposed drug traffickers in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, baseless prosecutions of the president's perceived enemies and the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. without the approval of Congress.

But a question looms: How does the next Congress deploy its investigative powers wisely, to serve the national interest rather than the cause of partisan revenge? If investigations become lawmakers' main business, voters could think their new representatives are looking backward to settle scores rather than forward to improve their lives. In other words, the whole thing could backfire.

There is more at stake than just the legacy of the Trump era (and that in itself is a lot). For decades now, Congress has been increasingly weak and distrusted by the public. It's the branch that's most prone to be fractured and feckless, the one with a collective action problem as hundreds of people vie to set the agenda. If the next House and Senate conduct investigations wisely and well over the next two years, they could go a long way toward restoring public trust in their institution and righting the system of checks and balances that has tilted too far toward the presidency.

But Congress could also fritter away a huge opportunity. History offers lessons in both directions.