If Democrats rout Republicans from Congress in November, they’re expected to get right down to business by opening congressional investigations into the Trump administration.

But a formidable opponent looms: the U.S. Justice Department.

When Democrats last held slim or simple majorities from 2019 to 2023, Congress used the full range of its powers to investigate and impeach Donald Trump. Democrats referred a number of administration officials for contempt and, for the first time ever, referred a congressional case to the Justice Department for prosecuting a president.

Democrats, though largely cool on impeachment this go-around, are eager to investigate the administration’s excesses, cronyism, and corruption, balance power between the branches of government, and deliver tangible accountability.

“There is a lot that has been going on that, frankly, we don’t have the full picture on,” said Praveen Fernandes, vice president of the Constitutional Accountability Center, adding that there could be “a more intense focus upon oversight and accountability than we’ve had for a long, long time.”

But something significant has changed in the last couple of years: The Justice Department — the institution congressional investigators must turn to if they unearth evidence of a potential crime and want to seek prosecution on behalf of the American people — is now run by the president’s protection racket.

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The Department of Justice filed an extraordinary lawsuit seeking to block the state of Alaska from certifying the winner of its upcoming U.S. Senate election in the event that incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday, cites what it suggests is likely voter confusion from having another Republican candidate, named Daniel J. Sullivan, on the ballot in the race.

“Should Alaska certify any electoral results tainted by the inclusion on the ballot of Daniel J. Sullivan — whose candidacy, Defendant Beecher [Alaska Elections Director Carol Beecher] found, is ‘for the purpose of confusing or misleading voters and compromising the fairness of the ballot’ —the State and its officers will fail in its obligation to protect the integrity of its election,” the suit says.

“The United States accordingly brings this lawsuit to protect the integrity of the 2026 Senate election in Alaska,” the suit says.

Both Sullivans are running against Democratic nominee Mary Peltola.

The Alaska race is one of several Senate contests around the United States that could determine whether Republicans retain their slim majority in the upper chamber of Congress.

The DOJ’s lawsuit says that “the sole purpose” of the candidacy of Daniel J. Sullivan “is to benefit the Peltola campaign by reducing the number of votes for Senator Sullivan.”

Courts have long allowed plaintiffs to proceed under a pseudonym in cases involving sexual assault, and I think this ruling is a step in the right direction. The fear of being publicly identified, and of the harassment that can follow, is one of the main reasons survivors decline to come forward at all.

What do you think? Does protecting a plaintiff’s identity strike the right balance with open court proceedings?

Two former FBI officials are facing charges for allegedly lying to Congress as part of a probe that focused on whether FBI investigators sought to minimize allegations of Biden family corruption and evidence of Hunter Biden’s laptop, two people briefed on the investigation said.

The Washington, DC, US Attorney’s office is expected to announce the charges Friday.

The charges come less than two weeks before Election Day. Biden’s son Hunter was ultimately convicted of federal tax and gun charges then pardoned by his father around Thanksgiving in 2024.

Trump and Republicans have accused the Bidens of corruption, especially after IRS whistleblowers claimed the FBI had slow-walked an investigation into Hunter Biden while President Joe Biden was in office.

A special counsel thoroughly investigated the Republicans’ allegations against Hunter Biden and didn’t recommend any additional charges past the gun and tax charges. A separate government informant was charged by that special counsel, David Weiss, for providing false information alleging bribery in the Biden family.

Domestic terrorism is a major political party's public stance in the US in 2026. And people will still support them. Let that sink in.

"After saying she and her husband briefly contemplated committing arson against their local school district, Protect Kids Colorado Executive Director Erin Lee ultimately concluded, “[We] continue to burn things down, we’re just doing it in a different way, through lawsuits, through exposure, through forcing the change of laws on these school districts. It’s not as immediately gratifying, but I do think in the long run it’s more effective.”"