Ted is after headlines, and that’s how he can make headlines. The witness ends up in jail on contempt until the DOJ decides what to do. Oliver North was threatened with this kind of contempt until he swung a deal for immunity from prosecution.
The DOJ still has to cooperate even to incarcerate. The Congress has no real detention system it has control of. It had a jail cell it one time.
In 1927, Congress didn’t rely on the justice department to punish those held in contempt of congress. The had their own jail, manned by the capital police, when those who were charged with contempt could be detained. The Sergeant-at-Arms did the arrest. Last time they did this was during the Teapot Dome scandal. The brother of the, then, secretary of state refused an order to testify, and the Sergeant-at-Arms went to his home and arrested him, and he was held in this jail until he agreed to testify.