Henry Waxman: The Bush Administration's Worst Nightmare

Posted by Christy Hardin Smith at 1:01 PM on October 26, 2007.

This post, written by Christy Hardin Smith, originally appeared on FireDogLake

Here's to peeking under a lot more rocks -- if ever a town needed it, it is Washington D.C. Via the WaPo:

...Waxman has become the Bush administration's worst nightmare: a Democrat in the majority with subpoena power and the inclination to overturn rocks. But in Waxman the White House also faces an indefatigable capital veteran -- with a staff renowned for its depth and experience -- who has been waiting for this for 14 years.

These days, the 16-term congressman is always ready with a hearing, a fresh crop of internal administration e-mails or a new explosive report. And he has more than two dozen investigations underway, on such issues as the politicization of the entire federal government, formaldehyde in Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers, global warming, and safety concerns about the diabetes drug Avandia.

"We have to let people know they have someone watching them after six years with no oversight at all," said Waxman, 68. "And we've got a lot of low-hanging fruit to pick."...

"For the administration, and for a lot of others, people need to be careful now," said Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (Va.), the ranking Republican on the committee. "Someone is looking over their shoulder."

Who knew that simply going to work and doing your job could be so damned frightening? Here's to Rep. Henry Waxman, his ace staffers, and all the other folks on the Government Oversight Committee who understand what the meaning of...well...government oversight really is. Bravo.

Tagged as: bush administration, waxman

Christy Hardin Smith is a former attorney, who earned her undergraduate degree at Smith College, in American Studies and Government, concentrating in American Foreign Policy. She then went on to graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania in the field of political science and international relations/security studies, before attending law school at the College of Law at West Virginia University, where she was Associate Editor of the Law Review.