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Pelosi warns that Democratic majority in House will closely watch Trump

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EFE

The likely next speaker of the House of Representatives, Democrat Nancy Pelosi , warned President Donald Trump that the new Democratic majority in that chamber of Congress will be watching him closely, according to an interview published Thursday by USA Today.

“(Trump) was used to serving with a Republican Congress, House and Senate that was a rubber stamp to him. That won’t be the case” any longer, the 78-year-old Pelosi told USA Today. “Oversight of government by the Congress is our responsibility.

The Democrats , who retook control of the lower house in the midterm elections last November, will now have the opportunity to launch investigations into the executive branch via different committees, including the Judiciary Committee.

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Pelosi, who will retake the speaker’s gavel on Thursday after eight years in the House minority, is planning to confront Trump on different fronts, from investigating the deaths of migrant children in US custody to demanding his tax returns.

Protecting the work of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, tasked with heading the so-called Russia probe investigation and who has been harshly criticized by Trump, will be another of her priorities as head of the new Democratic majority.

However, before beginning to deal with these issues, Pelosi will try to end the current partial government shutdown, now in its 13th day.

The government has been partially shut down since Dec. 22 after negotiations between Republican and Democratic lawmakers reached an impasse because of Trump’s demand that the budget bill include more than $5 billion for construction of the wall, which the Democrats regard as anathema and against American values.

The shutdown has idled some 800,000 of the 2.1 million federal workers, including the Transportation and Justice departments, as well as dozens of national parks, which are normally a big tourist draw.

Pelosi and other Democratic leaders met on Wednesday with Trump at the White House to present to him their proposal to end the partial shutdown, albeit without providing the more than $5 billion in funding the president is demanding to build his much-touted wall along the US-Mexico border.

Both the White House and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected the Democrats’ proposal and Trump called another meeting with top lawmakers for Friday.

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