What to expect if the Democrats win Congress

Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., could not have been clearer in an NJ interview about his plans should he chair the House Armed Services Committee next year: "Oversight, oversight, oversight!" And Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., an ardent Iraq war critic who is in line to chair the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, recently told a breakfast group of reporters: "Accountability will be the key.... You have a guy raise his right hand, we ask him what happened, and we send out some investigators. It will be a big difference."

Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., a House Energy and Commerce Committee member who has pressed for more information on the administration's use of private contractors that supply military assistance to other nations, declared, "This Congress has been derelict in providing oversight. We need to do our job to restore checks and balances."

It's not that Democrats haven't tried to hold the Bush administration's feet to the fire. As chairman of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., has conducted an "oversight and accountability project" featuring more than three dozen unofficial hearings since 2003 on administration policies, "in the absence of effective oversight by congressional Republicans." And Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., in line to chair the House Appropriations Committee, has raised hard-hitting questions about myriad federal programs.

But the Democrats' inability to compel administration witnesses to testify, and their lack of subpoena authority or even a full-time investigative staff, have limited their ability to probe in detail -- and to get much media coverage. All of that would change, of course, if Democrats gain the clout of Senate or House committee chairmanships.

Although numerous prospective chairmen are laying plans for tough oversight, one of them -- Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., at the House Government Reform Committee -- is best positioned to become "Mr. Oversight" in a Democratic-controlled Congress.

As the combative chairman of the panel's Health and the Environment Subcommittee from 1979 to 1994, Waxman used his post as a platform to address issues ranging from AIDS and expanded Medicaid benefits to safe drinking water legislation and the landmark 1990 Clean Air Act. In most cases, his legislative efforts were preceded by extensive oversight hearings. The nation was riveted by Waxman's 1994 hearings at which tobacco executives testified that nicotine is not addictive and that their companies do not market cigarettes to children, although Republicans ultimately deep-sixed his legislation.

In a Democratic Congress, Waxman's dogged investigative efforts could quickly make him the White House's No. 1 nemesis. "He would be a barracuda," predicted Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., in an interview. "The whole Democratic menu would be to tear down the administration.... You would see a large shift from Congress not doing enough oversight, to doing too much. It would keep the administration off balance."

A top aide to a veteran House Republican from California likewise said that Waxman "will be totally partisan." And a House Democratic staffer who supports Waxman added, "God help George Bush if Henry Waxman chairs Government Reform.... He understands the need for investigation, and will hold agencies accountable."

Waxman's power would stem in part from his panel's wide jurisdiction. In his words, "This committee has oversight over everything that the government is involved with." In an interview with NJ, Waxman said it would be "presumptuous to think what I would want to do in January. We won't know what will be the big issues at that moment." But he is "stunned by the waste, fraud, and abuse in government spending," and these issues will surely be a focus of his agenda.

"The three big areas have been Iraq reconstruction, the damage from Hurricane Katrina, and homeland security," Waxman said. "In all three of these areas, we see the same mistakes: big monopoly contracts, no bidding, no competition. So, there are a lot of abuses." Waxman has also said that he will pursue some of these problems with the panel's legislative authority.