How Democrats Plan to Dismantle the Trump Administration's DHS Record

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The Briefing:
Two new Senate legal roles — an anti-corruption counsel and an investigations and oversight counsel — were posted on the Senate Employment Office site within 24 hours of the Democratic midterm victory, both aimed directly at DHS.
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), expected to chair the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, has already signaled she will pursue subpoenas against figures including Corey Lewandowski, who is under an active DOJ criminal investigation over contract misconduct at DHS.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, sent DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin a formal document preservation demand on Wednesday — a standard legal precursor to formal congressional investigation — while Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) publicly named Mullin, former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, White House border czar Tom Homan, former CBP Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino, and Stephen Miller as potential investigation targets.

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Senate Hiring Signals Institutional Seriousness
The job postings — made public just 24 hours after election night — reveal the structural seriousness of Democrats' oversight ambitions. The anti-corruption counsel role requires, according to Mother Jones, a strong command of federal conflict-of-interest law, financial and lobbying disclosures, and foreign-influence regulations. The second role targets candidates with experience in complex investigations, whether as congressional staff, attorneys, journalists, law enforcement officers, or data analysts.

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This is not groundwork being laid. The groundwork was laid months ago — this is the construction crew showing up.

Hassan had already spent much of 2026 building the evidentiary foundation for what comes next. In the spring, she opened a formal investigation into Lewandowski over allegations he solicited personal payments from DHS contractors while operating as a de facto department chief of staff. She demanded records from his personal devices — emails, texts, and Signal messages — ahead of a June deadline.

That inquiry fed directly into a Department of Justice criminal investigation that is now active, opened after the DHS Inspector General issued a criminal referral to federal prosecutors.

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