Voters Wanted Lower Bills. Jeffries Is Building an Investigation Machine.

House Democrats just won a kitchen-table election. Their first public moves are "Lawyer up," family-wealth probes, and an impeachment option that never quite leaves the room. Conservatives should take the warning seriously — and answer with results, not panic.

By Clara Hughes

Voters punished high prices. That is the clearest reading of the midterm night that handed Democrats the House and the Senate. President Donald Trump himself tied the loss to gasoline and the Iran war in his first post-election remarks, Fox News and CBS News reported. The country did not send Washington a mandate for show trials. It sent a bill. Incoming House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries of New York has a different emphasis. In a Nov. 4 Dear Colleague letter announcing his Speakership candidacy, Jeffries framed the next Congress around three pillars: Affordability, Accountability and American Values. Affordability is listed first. Accountability is the muscle. "Anyone who is stealing from the American people, ripping off the American people or screwing over the American people can no longer hide," he wrote. "We are going to hold the crooks accountable." That is campaign language dressed as governing. Conservatives should hear what comes with it.