(CNN) A federal appeals court this week neutered the Democratic-led House of Representatives' ability to enforce its subpoenas of witnesses, giving the Trump administration an upper hand over congressional investigations in the next several months. The DC Circuit Court of Appeals, weighing the House's lawsuit over its unfulfilled April 2019 subpoena of former White House counsel Don McGahn, sided with the Trump administration and McGahn on Monday. A split court determined that Congress hasn't given the House legal power to allow it to go to court for help enforcing subpoenas. The effect may not just hurt the House Judiciary Committee's years-long effort to question McGahn about Trump's directives to hinder the Russia investigation. Hours after Monday's McGahn decision, the Trump administration sent it to the judge in the Census subpoena case.

Source: CNN September 02, 2020 13:41 UTC