Stan Brand on the State of Congressional Oversight and Subpoena Power
The Lawfare Podcast
The Lawfare Institute
4.7 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 11 April 2020
⏱️ 52 minutes
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Summary
Margaret Taylor sat down with Stan Brand, who served as the general counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives from 1976 to 1983. They talked about key issues working their way through the courts that could redefine congressional subpoena power and congressional oversight for a generation. How will these cases move forward in light of the COVID-19 pandemic? How might they be decided, and what might that mean for the future of congressional power? And what impact are these cases having on congressional oversight right now?
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Transcript
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| 0:25.6 | no bull and the aftermath. |
| 0:34.2 | It is possible, depending on what happens in November in the election, that some of these |
| 0:40.1 | cases could be could be mooted. |
| 0:42.9 | They don't think they'll be mooted merely by the expiration of the current Congress, |
| 0:49.4 | because the controversies could be revisited again in the next Congress. |
| 0:54.1 | I don't think they will determine the lapse. |
| 0:57.4 | Although there is case law that suggests the House is not a continuing body, that is, |
| 1:03.9 | when it adjourned, signing die at the end of a Congress, it goes out of existence. |
| 1:09.6 | And there has been some litigation over whether previously issued subpoenas survive the |
| 1:16.2 | adjournment signing die of the previous Congress. |
| 1:19.9 | Not so in the Senate, which is a continuing body. |
| 1:22.3 | So that undoubtedly, mootness will undoubtedly be an issue regardless of what the outcome |
| 1:28.4 | of the election is. |
| 1:31.8 | I'm Margaret Taylor and this is the LawFair podcast, April 11, 2020. |
| 1:37.9 | I sat down with Stan Brand, who served as the general counsels of the U.S. House of Representatives |
| 1:43.2 | from 1976 to 1983. |
| 1:46.4 | We first talked with Stan on the podcast Way Back in January of 2019, when Democrats |
| 1:51.8 | took control of the House. |
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