GOP's Darrell Issa Plans Hundreds of Oversight Hearings

California Rep. Darrell Issa, the ranking Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, is poised to take on the chairmanship of the committee.

/ AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

California Rep. Darrell Issa plans to greatly expand the scope of federal oversight upon his likely election to chair the oversight committee in the new Congress, he told Politico in an interview.

"I want seven hearings a week, times 40 weeks," Issa said.

Issa's election to chair the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform would herald a significant increase in the committee's activity, and not just from the past two years. California Rep. Henry Waxman, the committee's Democratic chair during the final two years of the Bush administration, held 203 hearings over the course of two years. With a goal of about 280 hearings each year, Issa hopes to more than double that.

Politico reports that Issa is looking to create new subcommittees, and has plans to investigate controversial Obama-era initiatives like the federal stimulus package and possibly health care reform, as well as the $700 billion bank bailout passed under President Bush.

He also intends to coordinate oversight inquiries among other House panels.

"As Clint Eastwood says, a man needs to know his limitations," Issa acknowledged to Politico. "With other committees, we have good working relationships. Our committees have some areas of primary jurisdiction, including the federal work force, procurement and the Postal Service. We will take care of our core knitting, but we have very narrow legislative jurisdiction."

Issa has said that his investigations will not necessarily be partisan - he's indicated that he might investigate the George W. Bush presidency as well as the current administration - but Democrats anticipate an aggressive posture from the California Republican when it comes to oversight of the Obama administration.

Issa told Politico that the committee's job is to "measure failures," adding that "oversight should be done with a balance for the American people and not as a gotcha."

"The enemy is the bureaucracy, not necessarily the current occupant of the White House," he said in a separate interview.

Issa has already set up a meeting with Vice President Joe Biden to discuss oversight of stimulus funds. White House officials were quick to clarify on Monday that Biden's recent meeting with the Department of Justice had nothing to do with Issa's planned investigations.

The California Republican also plans to investigate the allocation of government-controlled funds.

"We really want to study presidential earmarks and the grant-making process: How do we take all this discretionary money and see what is necessary," Issa said. "The debate on how to shrink the federal government is at the core of our problem of government not doing its job."

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Lucy Madison is a political reporter for CBSNews.com. You can read more of her posts here. Follow Hotsheet on Facebook and Twitter.

[lapdogs]

In other words, Issa, you're going to do everything possible, to find something - anything, to bring President Obama down.

A new hearing every day - times forty?

You clowns aren't even going to be in session that many days, the way Boehner keeps Congress going on a new vacation!!

[Vycodyn]

Even great oversight of discretionary spending will have litte or no impact on the national debt. Non-security discretionary spending is about 15% of the total federal budget at $520 billion. You could end all non-security discretionary spending in Health and Human Services, Transportation, Education, Housing and Urban Development and Agriculture and the budget implications would be short-term and minor. The 2011 Federal Budget already cut non-security discretionary spending from $553 billion to $520 billion. The national debt will only be positively affected by finding ways to cut security discretionary spending and mandatory spending. Security discretionary spending had gone from around $350 billion in 2001 to $895 billion in the 2011 budget and that increase is about half the budget deficit. But the real monster is the mandatory spending budget for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, which make up about 40% of the federal budget and that figure will rise sharply over the next 20 years. We can shrink the government to nothing as far as non-security discretionary spending is concerned and it won't hardly have any impact on our budget problems, especially in the future.

[TooComplex]

Where was this aggressive oversight while the Bush White House operated a shadow government and marched headlong into a war with "flawed intelligence". Where was the oversight when the Bush Administration made billions in TARP funds available with absolutely NO oversight. Or why a neutered SEC simply refused to investigate Ponzi schemes while millionaire Republicans became billionaires? Mr. Issa needs to be extremely careful. what comes around goes around, especially when it comes to witch hunts...

[ajvw]

read the article. by the way, why is no one interested in the government's ponzi scheme called social security?

[blindersoff]

If he wants to spend the next two years doing that, more power to him. Hopefully his district will send him packing next election if that's how he chooses to waste his time and taxpayer's money.

[blindersoff]

If he wants to spend the next two years doing that, more power to him. Hopefully his district will send him packing next election if that's how he chooses to waste his time and taxpayer's money.

[endurorob_5]

Are all you people really that stupid? You don ot understand what oversight is and the fact that is is one of the jobs of congress? Or are the liberals just concerned that this will prevent the dems from bribing each other to get what they want?

[blindersoff]

Where has the oversight been all these years? That's the point.

[ozilot]

The GOP is not even in power in the House and they are already wasting tax-payers money with more pointless investigations.

Issa's first investigation should be congressional pay and how it got so high consider the lack of work that congress actually does -- they don't even write legislation the lobbyist do! Moreover I'd like to know how and when he and the rest of the GOP will review their salaries and payback the American people!

[realist51]

the cry of reducing the size of goverment from the right is short lived. expand the size of the committee and do more oversight. and what is the cutoff date? 2 years ago, 4 years ago or do we go all the way back to clinton? how about the two illegal wars, unfunded programs like medicare part d and no child left behind. taxcuts that cost the goverment trillions and the katrina debacle. doubling of the national debt from 2000 to 2008 etc.etc...

[infoworker]

let's not exclude the secret Dick Cheney energy policy meetings where the oil companies wrote the policies allowing them to avoid taxes, jack up fuel costs, and make unprecendented and unparalleled profits quarter after quarter

[larrryshrine]

And here I thought the Republicans were for smaller government. The whole thing sounds a little Big Botherish to me.

[Lifeson2112]

I don't like any growth in government but I think here Issa's goal is to make sure the government is functioning appropriately and not wasting money. If it can be done efficiently I'm all for this. We need a watchdog on our government since the press refuses to do it anymore.

[endurorob_5]

Big brotherish? Are you that ignorant. It is the job of congress to provide oversight. Big government and big brother would be things like forcing everyone to buy health care insurance.

[jimbom121]

Good going....I guess this is the Tea Party's version of how government should be spending its money.