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Prudent step forward and will certainly be encouraging our colleagues to take it up. >> wait, that's key. you wouldn't need the senate. when i saw this earlier today, i thought obviously there's not going to be ten republican votes for this in the senate. your theory of the case here is this would be a simple majority vote of a resolution adopting rules codified in the branch of the house itself which derives the power from the u.s. constitution? >> that's precisely right. the implied powers under the constitution that give the house and the senate the ability to use its inherent contempt powe...

It is meaningless. so they can find themselves in contempt. and anderson, again, this is where the house has failed to get itself in order, to prepare for this. there are remedies for this. there are housekeeping things they can do and make these subpoenas through their inherent contempt powers have some meaning. >> why wouldn't they do that if that was a possibility? what is the inherent contempt power you're talking about? >> boy, i don't know. i cannot figure out. it is a no-brainer. ted lieu introduced in the last congress and again in this congress a resolution that would amend their rule...

With subpoenas from the january 6th committee. obviously, it's one thing to actually fight a subpoena in court. it's another to completely ignore it at the direction of the former president, isn't it? >> he has no authority to do that. each of those people have to decide what they can do, and they can't say, well, i'm acting under the orders of former president trump. that's no order. it is meaningless. so they can find themselves in contempt. and anderson, again, this is where the house has failed to get itself in order, to prepare for this. there are remedies for this. there are housekeeping...

Table during the trump administration, of course, because trump was basically -- chose his own people in the justice department. that's how the tables have turned a bit, but i must say, the democrats in part have themselves to blame for not moving on some subpoenas that were ignored during the trump administration. john bolton in the first impeachment proceedings, for example, and then many in the second impeachment proceedings, so the contempt power has been vastly diluted but the issue in this moment is we just have to think, victor, if donald trump gets in office again, there will not be an...

Criminal referral to the department of justice, because this will be a plain criminal contempt if they just openly defy it. the problem is the doj policy, and even an loc opinion says we won't exercise contempt power, we won't take a referral if it's for a former or current executive branch official. you can see why they're thinking of the long run, but the short term consequences are potential. other two options, inherent power of the senate, people are talking about it, hasn't been used for 100 years and would still land them in court, or civil contempt, which is what they tried in the trump...