Oversight test for Dems

From 2001 to 2006, Democrats repeatedly called on their Republican counterparts in Congress to conduct more rigorous oversight of the Bush administration.

It didn’t happen.

In 2004, House Government Reform and Oversight Committee Chairman Tom Davis (R-Va.) said that when your party controls Congress and the White House, “You get less oversight. That’s the way it goes.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) did hold the Bush administration’s feet to the fire, triggering grumblings from the White House and behind-the-scenes friction between the executive branch and the Finance Committee leader.

By and large, however, Grassley was the only elephant in the oversight room.

Grassley at times would team up with liberal Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) on oversight activities, which infuriated some Republicans.

Grassley has said Democrats conducted oversight better than Republicans, stating a few years ago, “We Republicans have never quite reached the level of competent oversight that the Democrats developed over their 40 years when they controlled Congress.”

Democrats soon will be running the White House and both chambers of Congress. And many Republicans, noting Waxman’s recent decision to abandon his Oversight gavel, expect Democrats to go very light on scrutinizing the Obama administration.

There are many reasons why Waxman opted to take on and oust Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) as chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee. That panel will be the policymaking fulcrum on Capitol Hill, drafting legislation ranging from healthcare to global warming.

And as Davis put it, the Oversight panel is not as busy when the president is on your side of the aisle.

But Democrats would be wise to conduct stringent oversight of the Obama administration. It would be good policy and good politics.

The nation needs many spotlights on the hundreds of billions of dollars in bailouts that Congress has passed and could pass in the weeks and months ahead.

Much of the implementation of the financial rescue packages will be done when Obama is in the White House.

Government works when there is some tension between the executive and legislative branches. In an interview with The Hill earlier this year, Waxman said, “Republicans in the Congress did a disservice to the Bush administration by allowing it to be more secretive and by not using the institutional powers under the Constitution for oversight.”

It will be up to Democratic leaders in Congress to criticize the Obama administration when it falters.

If Democrats follow the path of Republicans from 2001 to 2006, their grip on the majority in the House and Senate will slip.