Paul Ryan Warns of Subpoenas, Gridlock With Democratic Majority

(Bloomberg) -- House Speaker Paul Ryan warned that Democratic gains in November’s congressional elections could make it impossible to get anything accomplished and expose President Donald Trump’s administration to more aggressive oversight.

Should Republicans lose control of either the House or Senate, “you’ll have gridlock, you’ll have subpoenas,” with the whole legislative system “shutting down,” Ryan said Wednesday in Beverly Hills, California, at the annual Milken Institute Global Conference.

The party that holds the majority of seats in either chamber can appoint the chairmen of committees responsible for drafting legislation and conducting oversight of the executive branch. Democrats this year have accused Republicans of not conducting a sufficiently thorough investigation of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election.

Even as he warned of gridlock, Ryan said that 80 percent of what Congress does is bipartisan. Ryan said last month he won’t run for re-election in his Wisconsin district.

--With assistance from Sonali Basak

To contact the reporters on this story: Anna Edgerton in Washington at aedgerton@bloomberg.net, Lisa Lee in New York at llee299@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Justin Blum, Laurie Asséo

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