Over the objection of conservatives, House Republicans anointed Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) as chairman of the Appropriations Committee today. Just hours later, the veteran appropriator rejected an idea to improve oversight by creating a new investigations subcommittee.
Rogers, known for his penchant for pork-barrel spending, could have made amends with the right instantly by supporting the new subcommittee and tapping Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) to lead it. Instead, Rogers chose the status quo.
Rogers maintained that it would take more than one new subcommittee to eliminate wasteful government spending. So rather than put a budget hawk like Flake in charge of a new panel that investigates spending projects, Rogers will rely on the 12 cardinals who make up the already existing subcommittees.
“I believe that every subcommittee needs to incorporate a rigorous oversight component into their every day functions,” he said in a statement.
There’s good reason to believe the idea won’t work, even if Rogers follows through on a promise to institute “special investigation panels” to hold fact-finding hearings and develop assessment reports.
House rules outline an important oversight role for the Appropriations Committee, which doles out more than $1.1 trillion. Delegating that authority to existing subcommittee chairmen hasn’t worked well in the past and isn’t a solution for the future.
Rogers’ idea risks further minimizing the work of the committee’s staff investigators, which isn’t publicly available.
An investigations subcommittee would have provided the public attention needed to rein in Washington’s out-of-control spending much in the same way Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has vowed to shine light on inefficient government operations. Issa will become chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee in January.
The idea for a new investigations subcommittee was first offered by Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), a favorite of conservatives and Tea Party activists to lead the Appropriations Committee. Rogers bested both Kingston and term-limited Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) yesterday in a vote of the House Republican Steering Committee.
That news caused conservatives to cringe. The influential blog RedState issued an action alert calling on Republicans to disregard the Steering Committee’s choice in favor of Kingston. “If you believe the GOP must change their ways, you must then fight against Hal Rogers’s appointment and support Jack Kingston instead,” wrote RedState’s Erick Erickson.
Rogers’ reluctance to support the investigations subcommittee could be a troubling sign for what’s to come.
Even more worrisome is the role of Flake. He won the support of Speaker-elect John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader-elect Eric Cantor (R-Va.) to serve on the panel, but his effectiveness to combat Washington’s spending habits would be severely hampered if he isn’t given the tools to do anything about it.
After all, it’ll take more than tough talk to get control of runaway spending.
