Oversight panel leaders pledge to maintain bipartisanship

The top Republican and Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee both say regardless of the outcome of the Nov. 7 midterm election, bipartisanship will remain a goal for the panel.

Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., chairman of the committee, said earlier this month at a breakfast hosted by The Council for Excellence in Government and The Washington Post that he has tried to set an example of reaching across the aisle, and that the panel's ranking member, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., has been "a responsible partner," in that effort. Davis said if Democrats take control of the House and Waxman takes over as chairman, "it [would likely] continue to be a good effort."

"We don't agree on government contracting, but we have held a lot of hearings together and frankly, I'm a better member and [we produce] a better product because of his participation," Davis said. "We try to be collaborative. There are issues [on] which we disagree, but we try not to be disagreeable."

The Government Reform Committee has jurisdiction over agency management, accounting and the federal civil service.

Waxman, in an interview with Government Executive, agreed that Davis has reached out to the committee's minority side staff members and said if he were to lead the panel, he would continue that tradition.

"I believe that one of the highest priorities would be waste, fraud and abuse," said Waxman, who has served as the committee's ranking member since 1997. "That's something that should unite Democrats and Republicans. Certainly procurement fraud is a high priority since we have jurisdiction over contracting."

Asked to detail his priorities, Waxman said "being the watchdog for the U.S. Treasury" would be high on his list. He would not elaborate beyond that.

"We have oversight over anything the government may do and I would want to look at any activity where taxpayer money is misused," Waxman said.

In a June interview with CongressDaily, Waxman said top priorities for congressional investigation would include the prison abuse scandals at Abu Ghraib in Iraq; the intelligence used by the White House to justify the Iraq war; and no-bid contracts for work in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Gulf Coast.

Steven Katz, who conducted oversight investigations as a staff member in both chambers of Congress and later served as counsel to the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee under then-Chairman John Glenn, D-Ohio, said if Democrats regain control of the House, Waxman will be positioned to play a leading role as chairman of the Government Reform Committee.

Though his party has been in the minority since the Republicans took control of the House in 1994, Waxman has remained dogged in seeking information on how government is run, Katz said. Waxman has loyal, experienced staff, Katz added.

"Oversight is needed, but if the Democrats retake the House they will expect leaders like Waxman to craft solutions to the problems most Americans already know about, such as Iraq, terrorism, the deficit, and the environment and energy," Katz said.

He said it's an open question as to whether Democratic House leaders would change the rules to allow committee leaders more power.

In an interview with National Journal, Waxman said there are benefits to centralizing power. When the Democrats had the majority, there were too many autonomous committee chairs, he said.

"It would be a mistake to go back to those days," Waxman said. "I don't think that the leaders ought to dictate to the chairmen, but they ought to work closely with the chairmen to [ensure] that they are responsive."

Waxman told Government Executive that the current allocation of committee staff members makes sense -- with a third belonging to the minority party and the remainder to the majority. He said he would urge the Democratic leadership to continue that policy if he became chairman.

Sources said Waxman benefits from being from the same state as House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and is on good terms with her.