When his Democratic Party controlled Congress, President Obama didn’t have to worry about nosy congressional probes papering his administration with subpoenas and hauling staffers to Capitol Hill for awkward, confrontational hearings.
That all changes in January, when Republicans assume control of the House and their new committee chairmen, armed with subpoena powers, begin exercising a more intense oversight of the executive branch.
“We’re going to try to fight the arrogance of government,” Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., the presumptive chairman of the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee, told reporters after Tuesday’s election, in which Republicans swept control of the House and increased their numbers in the Senate.
Areas ripe for investigation include Obama’s health care policy, its response to the BP oil spill, and the multibillion-dollar bailouts of automakers, banks and the troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Politically charged probes also could be started into allegations of discrimination at the Justice Department’s civil rights division and the White House’s use of “czars” to oversee key policies.
Republican lawmakers have a persistent dislike for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, with a few calling for his resignation. A granular review of how bailout, stimulus and other funds were administered could produce some cringe-worthy moments for the White House.
Issa also signaled an interest in probing Obama’s ties to the liberal community group ACORN and whether the White House pressured Pennsylvania Democrat Joe Sestak to drop out of a Senate race this year.
Also waiting in the wings is Rep. Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican and likely chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, coming in with his own investigatory to-do list.
“Could they over-reach? Of course,” said John Fortier, a political expert at the American Enterprise Institute. “But I think in the early days this kind of oversight is going to be more about getting answers to the questions they asked but not been able to get people to talk about.”
With Obama leaving the country for a 10-day trip through Asia just days after Republicans swamped his party in the midterm elections, the White House has not indicated how it might respond to a slew of Republican inquisitions.
This isn’t the first time a president was threatened with subpoenas after the opposition party took over Congress.
Former President Clinton had epic showdowns with the House Republicans following the GOP’s 1994 takeover of the House. Republicans issued more than 1,000 subpoenas to gather information about Lincoln Bedroom sleepovers, suspect personal investments and much more.
Similarly, when Democrats retook the House in 2006, former President George W. Bush faced strenuous inquiries over contracting in Iraq, political activities in the White House and the firing of U.S. attorneys by the Justice Department.
Mike Franc, vice president of government relations at the Heritage Foundation, said the key for Republicans will be to restrict their investigations to substantive policy probes while steering clear of overt partisan attacks.
“You think of Vince Foster, going back to stuff like that,” Franc said, referring to a Clinton attorney whose 1993 suicide spawned rampant rumors about the first family. “It tends to rally or excite the juices of partisans on the side being investigated, and only artificially pulls the other team together.
“They key is having aggressive chairmen with quality staff with a nose for following a lead,” he said. “Then you can win.”
