|
|
"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
|
Congress reduces its oversight role
|
|---|
| Parent(s) |
Container
|
| Contributor | RP |
| Last Edited | RP Nov 21, 2005 06:24pm |
| Logged |
0
|
| Category | Analysis |
| Media | Newspaper - Boston Globe |
| News Date | Monday, November 21, 2005 12:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | While congressional committees once were leaders in investigating the executive branch and powerful industries, the current Congress has largely spared major corporations and has done only minimal oversight of the Republican administration, according to a review of congressional documents by The Boston Globe.
An examination of committees' own reports found that the House Government Reform Committee held just 37 hearings described as ''oversight" or investigative in nature during the last Congress, down from 135 such hearings held by its predecessor, the House Government Operations Committee, in 1993-94, the last year the Democrats controlled the chamber.
Party loyalty does not account for the difference: In 1993-94, the Democrats were investigating a Democratic administration.
Across the House, panels that once aggressively scrutinized the workings of the government are now restricting themselves largely to subjects that advance a particular goal or a cause favored by the GOP leadership, such as recent oversight hearings on the benefits of having social services provided by faith-based organizations and drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. |
| Share |
|
|
2¢
|
|
| Article | Read Full Article |
|
| Date |
Category |
Headline |
Article |
Contributor |
|
|
