Those dramatic negotiations between President Obama and congressional Republicans seeking an agreement on the national debt ceiling dominated the headlines this past week, but another clash between the White House and Hill GOPers that is almost as significant was also moving toward a potentially consequential conclusion. The main players in this mostly unnoticed clash include on one side Obama’s top appointees at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and the U.S. Department of Energy, and on the other, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton of Michigan and Rep. Cliff Stearns, the Florida Republican who chairs the Upton panel’s subcommittee on oversight and investigations. At the center of their controversy is the familiar struggle with the executive branch occasioned by congressional oversight.
Here’s the background. Following passage of Obama’s economic stimulus program, the Department of Energy awarded a $535 million loan guarantee to Solyndra Inc. for construction of a manufacturing facility for its propriety solar energy equipment. The March 2009 award was the first by the Energy Department under the stimulus program in Obama’s efforts to increase federal subsidies for clean energy resources. Unfortunately, Solyndra has since encountered major financial difficulties that cast great doubt about its future viability without substantial additional government subsidies. For that reason, beginning in January this year, Upton and Stearns asked officials at OMB and DOE to explain how and why Solyndra was selected. They also requested all of the official documents that shed light on the process.
Whereupon Obama’s OMB and DOE appointees embarked on a studied course of evasion and double-talk. While promising full cooperation with the congressional investigation, administration officials delayed and obfuscated at every turn. Deadlines came and went, promises were made and broken, and frustration grew apace among congressional investigators. Repeatedly, requested documents would be provided but with so much information redacted as to be useless. Other documents were promised, but not provided. And the executive branch officials simply refused to turn over still other documents because, in their arrogant judgment, Congress didn’t “need” to see them.
Things came to a head this past Thursday when the committee voted to issue a subpoena to compel OMB and DOE officials to stop obstructing the congressional investigation by producing the requested documents. Upton and Stearns also want key officials involved in the Solyndra decision to appear before the subcommittee for questioning by interested members of Congress. If the recent past is prologue, no one will be surprised if the Obama appointees again promise to cooperate fully, but force the committee to take them to federal court to enforce the subpoena.
Upton and Stearns are right to insist on full compliance with their document and witness requests. As the Washington Post has reported, one of Solyndra’s key investors was George Kaiser, an Obama campaign contributor. To be sure, Upton and Stearns should determine if that fact had anything to do with DOE’s decision to award Solyndra a federal loan guarantee. It is even more important that congressional oversight be respected by the executive branch, especially with regard to how federal tax dollars are being spent.
