Expect Democrats to Keep White House on the Defensive

When it comes to congressional oversight, you ain't seen nothin' yet.

By Richard Sammon, Senior Associate Editor, The Kiplinger Letter

April 13, 2007

Despite the political risk, Democrats are just getting warmed up. In the weeks and months ahead, they plan to hold President Bush and his aides accountable for what they perceive as a raft of wasteful mistakes, political shenanigans and ethical lapses. The high-profile hearings and probe of the Justice Department's firing of several U.S. attorneys are just an appetizer on the Democratic menu for the rest of the year.

Democrats' frustration is on center stage after six years of their not being in power as Republicans blocked any move to investigate the Bush administration. Adding to the tension and partisan fire is the showdown over Iraq war funding, which isn't doing anything to put either side in a more cooperative mood.

Minority Republicans can't protect the White House because they can't stop Democratic chairmen from using their subpoena power to conduct a host of investigations. And some Republicans will join Democrats as they worry more about the next election than defending the Bush White House. Many in the GOP feel isolated from the president and his aides for a variety of reasons, including Iraq war fatigue and the increasing sense of some that the White House has always treated Congress with disdain.

Committee inquiries coming up include:

• Troop readiness. The House and Senate plan numerous hearings into whether soldiers have been deployed to Iraq without proper training and equipment and whether the administration is downplaying current strains on the Army and Marines.

• Iraq contracts. More hearings this spring into no-bid government contracts, especially those awarded to Halliburton, the company Vice President Dick Cheney once ran. Also, hearings into contract oversight at the Pentagon and heavy cost overruns at Northrop Grumman, Boeing and Lockheed Martin plus controversial bonus payments made to these contractors.

• Regulatory practices. A probe by two House panels is aimed at exploring charges that Environmental Protection Agency scientists are under pressure by presidential appointees to speed up scientific reviews of pollutants covered by clean air and water laws. Critics say streamlined reviews will lead to relaxation of standards for lead, sulfur dioxide and other pollutants.

• Antitrust. The House Judiciary Committee is considering hearings on whether the Justice Department's Antitrust Division gave proper consideration to consumer choice and market competition concerns when it chose not to contest recent large mergers in the telecommunications, banking and retail industries.

• Credit card practices. Another round of hearings is in store to determine whether government regulators dropped the ball in curbing hidden fees and often confusing billing practices of the credit card industry. The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs is expected to hold hearings later this year. Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT), a presidential candidate, will keep the issue on the front burner.

• Mortgage lending. The House and Senate banking committees will explore whether government regulators did enough to prevent or even foresee trouble with mortgage foreclosures in the subprime mortgage category used by millions of homeowners.

• Medicare fraud. House hearings are being planned to examine what the administration has done to stop Medicare contractor fraud that costs the government tens of billions of dollars a year.

• Federal crop insurance. An investigation is planned on waste, fraud and abuse in crop price supports and whether the Agriculture Department has been an effective manager of the billions in price supports that it provides annually.

Is it too much? Democrats run the risk of appearing more intent on pointing fingers than passing legislation that addresses public problems. For the time being, it's a risk Democrats are willing to take. What they produce in hearings may well outshine for political value what they can produce legislatively in the current highly partisan atmosphere.

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