As public opinion poll after public opinion poll has confirmed, surging gas prices is one of the most controversial issues in the US. As President Biden made clear when he announced his plans to release 180 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Democrats are doing everything they can to try and blame rising prices on President Putin and the American energy industry (which Biden accused of greedily holding back on production, even though his own energy policies have made it harder for shale producers to do so).

So, in their latest attempt to blame the spike in prices on evil corporate America, Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations are holding a hearing on Wednesday, where they will interrogate the CEOs of Exxon Mobil, Chevron, BP America, Shell USA, Devon Energy Corp and Pioneer about the dynamics driving the surge in prices at the pump. The title of the hearing tells one everything they need to know about the overall tone: “Gouged At The Gas Station: Big Oil And America’s Pain At The Pump”.

In testimony submitted to the subcommittee, the oil executives explained that a combination of labor and supply shortages have stopped their companies from raising output back to pre-pandemic levels, while the price of oil and gas are largely determined by international market conditions beyond their control.

Of course, this reasoning was apparently lost on the Democrats. In an interview with Reuters, Democrat members of the committee are already sharpening their knives.

“We will not sit back and allow the fossil fuel industry to take advantage of the American people and gouge them at the pump,” Diana DeGette, a Democrat and chair of the subcommittee, said about the hearing at which executives from Exxon Mobil, Chevron, BP America, Shell USA , Devon Energy and Pioneer will testify.

“We want to know what’s causing these record-high prices and what needs to be done to bring them down immediately,” she said. Many Democrats have complained that oil companies have made record profits while consumers face high prices.

In addition to the executives, former Trump Administration National Security Advisor HR McMaster, now a senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institute, will also participate.

Readers can find the prepared testimony here.

Readers can watch live below: