OPINION:
There is a new majority in Congress and that means conservative leadership at many committees. What will – and should - those conservatives do with their new committee gavels?
In a word investigate the Biden Administration and its allies on the left. Investigations should be the singular focus of the coming Congress for two reasons.
First, the first two years of the Biden administration have been plagued by malfeasance, incompetence, fraud and corruption, and the American people deserve a full accounting of what went wrong. Further, the American people deserve a legislative agenda that reflects their values and there is no way to pass legislation that embraces those values that will pass President Biden’s signature.
A robust investigatory agenda will only happen with the leadership of the House and Senate Leaders. Senate and House Minority Leaders Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy have vowed to make oversight and investigations the overwhelming focus of the next Congress. Now it is time to put their money where their mouth is.
Conservatives can begin laying the groundwork for more rigorous oversight even while the party is still in the minority. In mid-November, the caucus begins the process that results in the selection of committee chairs and the assignment of Member committees. New Chairmen must be instructed to make investigations the primary focus of their activities during the 118th Congress.
Deals on bills that President Biden will agree to sign into law will be few and far between and will only serve as a distraction from holding the Administration to account for out-of-control inflation, rampant government waste, and a radical social agenda. The American people will be best served if Administration officials and their allies outside of government are repeatedly called to account before Congressional committees staffed with skilled investigators and aggressive Members demanding answers.
When conservatives retake the House, their committee staff allotment will expand to meet the needs of the party in charge. With the additional funding reserved for research and investigations, each committee will have the ability to meet its oversight responsibilities. The Leaders need to dedicate more money to hiring investigators and focus new committee hires nearly exclusively on hiring investigators.
We also urge the granting of unilateral subpoena power to committee chairmen. Even with staff and money, committees are still like David heading out to face the Goliath which is a two million-person strong federal government. If Chairmen are forced to wait for committee meetings and votes each time they need to demand the submission of documents, members of the minority and the Biden Administration will have the ability to conspire to run out the clock on oversight being done on behalf of the American people.
And this Administration certainly has a lot to answer for.
Joe Biden has willfully ignored the crisis at the southern border. Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkis’ impeachment proceedings for dereliction of duty by allowing an invasion from Latin America should be up first.
Attorney General Garland has weaponized the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI against your political enemies.
The Biden Administration has packed the DOJ’s Voting Section with leftist radicals looking to subvert the will of the American people.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services have designed Covid policies targeting individuals and businesses that the Biden Administration is looking to punish.
The list goes on and on. And it’s not confined to the Biden Administration itself. Their allies in the private sector need to answer for their sins as well.
Wall Street environmental, social, and governance activists like those at BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street need to raise their right hands and swear an oath in front of a slew of Congressional panels to answer for their use of retiree pension funds to implement a leftist agenda.
University diversity offices must answer for the woke weaponization of college campuses.
Tech firms must answer for unconstitutional censorship of political disagreement online.
The Administration’s sins are many, and Congress has a lot to do.
Oversight can and should be the new name of the D.C. game.
- Tom Jones is the President and Founder of the American Accountability Foundation.
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