Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, yesterday castigated the Bush administration, saying the U.S. attorney scandal has shown that “no function of the federal government is free from the influence of politics.”

That scandal has grabbed Emanuel’s attention because communications between the White House and Department of Justice (DoJ) indicate that prior to the 2006 midterm election, DoJ leaned on federal prosecutors to impede investigations of Republicans and speed up the indictment of at least one Democratic lawmaker.

In yesterday’s speech at the Brookings Institution, Emanuel noted that seven GOP lawmakers — Reps. Rick Renzi (Ariz.), Gary Miller (Calif.), Jerry Lewis (Calif.), John Doolittle (Calif.), Tim Murphy (Pa.), Tom Feeney (Fla.) and Heather Wilson (N.M.) — are under investigation by federal prosecutors. (Emanuel did not mention that Reps. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.) and William Jefferson (D-La.) face similar scrutiny.)

“I’m not in the business of giving political advice to my Republican friends,” Emanuel said during the question-and-answer session. “But they ought to meet us halfway” on lobbying reform legislation.

Still, Emanuel cautioned Democrats against allowing investigations into alleged Republican corruption to become “all-consuming,” stressing that the Democratic Congress must pass its legislative priorities, such as the minimum-wage bill and the Iraq war supplemental spending bill.

Emanuel quashed talk of impeachment, saying, “I’m not for that. I’d be happy with … real oversight.”

Separately, Emanuel said the public would be better served if presidential candidates from opposing parties debated each other during the primary campaign.

“Hillary Clinton should debate Mitt Romney on healthcare,” he said. “John McCain should debate Barack Obama on national security.”