Issa to Target Obama Administration's "Corruption"
The Washington Post reports:
The Republican congressman who is taking over responsibility for congressional oversight called President Obama's administration "one of the most corrupt administrations" on Sunday and predicted that the investigations he is planning over the next two years could result in about $200 billion in savings for U.S. taxpayers.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the incoming chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, was bullish in laying out his agenda for the new Congress under GOP control of the House.
Issa, who as chairman will have subpoena power, said he would seek to ferret out waste across the federal bureaucracy. While he used fiery rhetoric in describing the Obama administration in a series of television interviews Sunday, he said he would focus on wasteful spending over political persecutions.
Asked on "Fox News Sunday" about reports that the White House is staffing up on lawyers to prepare for his oversight hearings, Issa said: "They're going to need more accountants."
"It's more of an accounting function than legal function," Issa said. "It's more about the inspector generals than it is about lawyers in the White House. And the sooner the administration figures out that the enemy is the bureaucracy and the wasteful spending, not the other party, the better off we'll be."
Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), who as ranking member of Issa's committee will be the administration's chief defender during oversight investigations, criticized Issa for his partisan tone.
"I couldn't help but think about the fact he has called this president the most corrupt in history," Cummings said on CNN's "State of the Union," referencing a comment Issa made to radio talk hostRush Limbaugh last fall but has since dialed back.
