U.S. Congress Starts with the Questions
Congress reclaims oversight role. Subpoenas! All over the place! White House aides, Justice Department officials, political appointees, Pentagon bigwigs...you name it, there's a Congressional committee that wants to ask them questions. Republican leaders call it a "partisan witch hunt." But Democratic lawmakers, and even some Republicans, say it is an overdue return to their constitutional role of executive-branch oversight.
Since Democrats assumed control of Congress in January, they have hired more than 200 investigative staffers for key watchdog committees. They include lawyers, former reporters and congressional staffers who left oversight committees that had all but atrophied during the six years that the GOP controlled Congress and the White House. In a nod to this return to accountability, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) changed the name of the committee he chairs from Committee on Government Reform to Oversight and Government Reform. And to hear Waxman talk, he's definitely taking it seriously: [Common Cause Blog]
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