Big Tech braces for subpoena wave

Democratic lawmakers say executives at major technology companies should brace for a wave of subpoenas when the new Congress takes office in January, alongside investigations into US President Donald Trump's business circle, including his cryptocurrency ventures.

The warnings came shortly after Democrats secured control of Congress in Tuesday's sweeping midterm victory, with senior party members signaling that oversight of the Trump family and tech executives close to the president will be a leading priority. The victory carries procedural weight: with majority control comes committee chairmanship, and chairmanships carry broad investigatory powers — including the authority to issue subpoenas, compel documents and convene hearings — that turn oversight threats into formal probes.

“They are going to need to plant new forests for all of the subpoenas we'll be printing,” said US Senator Ed Markey, who sits on the Senate Commerce Committee, referring to Big Tech executives.

US Representative Robert Garcia, the expected incoming chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said he plans to take on “the Trump Crime Family, corporate corruption, DHS and ICE abuses, and the cover-up of the Epstein files,” adding a two-word warning: “Lawyer up.”

Tech executives in Democrats' sights

The threats of scrutiny follow a midterm campaign in which Democrats challenged Big Tech's growing political influence and the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence, raising concerns about data centers' demands on electricity, safeguards for AI products and tech executives' ties to Trump.

Punchbowl News reported on Wednesday that technology executives close to Trump, including Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, are expected to face scrutiny from the House Oversight Committee, the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee. The three panels' jurisdictions span government oversight, energy, telecommunications and consumer-protection policy — the arenas where data-center power demands and AI product rules would surface — and the named executives lead companies at the center of the AI boom, placing the industry's rapid growth directly in the path of the promised investigations.

The outlet also identified OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei as potential witnesses who could face questions about their companies' AI products.

Trump's crypto dealings face scrutiny

Trump's cryptocurrency dealings also featured prominently in Democratic campaign attacks, with candidates including Virginia Senator Mark Warner highlighting his memecoin earnings as part of a broader pattern of alleged corruption and self-enrichment.

“The amount of grift and corruption is unprecedented in American politics,” Garcia said during a press conference on Wednesday. “The president himself has a crypto scheme where he's making billions of dollars. This family is billions richer as the American public struggles.”

House Judiciary Democrats have previously scrutinized Trump's crypto businesses, publishing a November 2025 staff report alleging that he used the presidency to enrich his family through crypto ventures tied to foreign interests while dismantling enforcement and anti-corruption safeguards.

Preparations for the next Congress are already underway: House Judiciary Democrats have begun advertising positions for counsel and professional staff, including roles dedicated to oversight and investigations — the staffing groundwork that congressional probes typically require before hearings and subpoenas can begin. Whether the warnings translate into formal proceedings should come into view as committees organize when the new Congress convenes in January.