Contraception

'Where Are The Women?' Democrats Go On Offense Over Contraception

Pema Levy | February 17, 2012, 5:58AM

Democrats have a new rallying cry when it comes to the Obama administration's hotly contested contraception rule. Thursday, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) gazed at an all male panel at yesterday's House Oversight hearing and asked, "Where are the women?" The question is being repeated by Democrats and women's rights groups as they attempt to shape the narrative of the contraception issue.

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Darrell Issa

Birth Control Hearing Not Really About Birth Control, Says GOP

Pema Levy | February 16, 2012, 3:49PM

A House Oversight Committee hearing Thursday morning began with a heated debate and a walkout over witnesses. The question of who could testify was so contentious because it was part of the fundamental political argument at stake over the administration's rule on contraception coverage: whether the issue at stake is access to contraception or religious liberty.

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Darrell Issa

Issa: Obama Injecting 'Chicago Hardball Politics' With Draft Executive Order

Igor Bobic | May 13, 2011, 11:28AM

Darrell Issa (R-CA)

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) claims a recent draft proposal by President Obama to require federal contractors to disclose donations to third-party political groups is an attempt to politicize the procurement process and one that will intimidate businesses away from federal contracts.

"We're now talking about Chicago hardball politics that will clearly lead to a chilling effect on contributions by those required to participate," said Issa at a committee hearing Thursday. "I think it's very clear, this executive order is outside the procurement process."

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Darrell Issa

Oversight Committee Vet: Issa Could Be Headed For Trouble

Benjy Sarlin | March 21, 2011, 9:58AM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and David Bossie

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) has been off to a shaky start since taking over as chairman of the House Oversight Committee this year, firing his prominent spokesman Kurt Bardella this month after he was revealed to have shared reporters' emails with a New York Times reporter working on a book.

In his first interview since losing his job, Bardella told the North County Times over the weekend that he had made mistakes. "I did lose my way a little bit," Bardella said. "Certainly, in this case, what I did left people in the reporting community uncomfortable."

David Bossie has plenty of sympathy for Bardella after having held a similar position as an aide to then-chairman Dan Burton (R-IN) during the committee's years-long investigations into President Clinton back in the '90s. Known for his friendliness with the press, Bossie says he had the same role as Bardella in all but title in addition to his duties as an investigator. Like Bardella, Bossie left his position in scandal, resigning after tapes of interviews conducted as part of Burton's Whitewater investigation were found to have been selectively edited to incriminate the Clintons.

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Henry Waxman

Waxman On Issa: 'He's Not Gotten Off To A Good Start'

Brian Beutler | March 1, 2011, 5:20PM

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA)

You know whose first days as chairman of the House Oversight Committee didn't involve having to fire a high-profile staffer? Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), who ran the committee from 2007 through 2009.

I caught up with Waxman in the Speaker's Lobby during a House vote on short-term spending Tuesday afternoon and asked him to weigh in on his heir Darrell Issa, who's had tougher luck.

"He's not gotten off to a good start," Waxman said, "and he's got to figure out how to make corrections in his own operation."

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Oversight Committee

Cummings Presses Conservative Interest Groups For Correspondence With Issa

Brian Beutler | February 1, 2011, 8:24AM

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD)

House Oversight Committee chairman Darrell Issa has surveyed scores of industry and conservative players to figure out how to target investigations of President Obama's regulatory regime. But only a fraction of the responses he's received have been made public, and he won't share the rest with ranking member Elijah Cummings.

So Cummings is going straight to the sources.

In letters sent Monday to the same powerbrokers Issa solicited, Cummings asks for copies of their responses.

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Oversight Committee

Heritage Asks Issa To Reverse Decades Of Worker, Consumer, Environmental Laws

Brian Beutler | January 31, 2011, 2:30PM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)

CREW got a hold of a bunch of letters to House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa from trade association, industry, and think tank leaders, which identify aspects of the federal regulatory regime that they believe Issa should investigate to make life and profits easier for businesses.

The one that most neatly reflects the priorities of the conservative movement comes from the Heritage Foundation, which is asking Issa to attack decades worth of regulatory and statutory worker and consumer protections.

Here's the laundry list:

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Darrell Issa

Major Trade Association Asks Issa To Curb Toxin, Safety, Financial Reform Regs

Brian Beutler | January 12, 2011, 10:18AM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)

Late last year, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the incoming chairman of the House Oversight Committee sent a letter to the country's major trade associations and private corporations asking them which regulations they want to see weakened or eliminated.

In response, the GOP-friendly National Association of Manufacturers has asked him to probe forthcoming regulations aimed at enhancing worker health, improving toxin standards, mitigating climate pollution and preventing another crisis on Wall Street.

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Oversight Committee

Pelosi Power Play Doomed Towns On Oversight Committee

Brian Beutler | December 16, 2010, 5:09PM

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Rep. Ed Towns (D-NY) surprised everybody Tuesday afternoon when he announced that he'd dropped out of the race to be ranking member on the House Oversight Committee next year.

The move did not reflect his personal preferences though. On Tuesday, according to two sources close to Towns, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Towns and told him, essentially, that she could not support his candidacy.

Towns had all but locked down the position last month. But that was over the wishes of congressional leadership and the White House, both of whom want the ranking member to be a bulldog, who can stand toe to toe with incoming chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA).

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Oversight Committee

Towns Will Back Maloney Over Cummings In Oversight Committee Fight

Brian Beutler | December 15, 2010, 1:30AM

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)

After unexpectedly dropping out of contention to be the Ranking Member on the House Oversight Committee next year, Rep. Ed Towns (D-NY) has thrown his support to fellow New Yorker, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) -- the next-most senior Democrat on the committee -- who will fight it out for the panel's top spot with Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD).

"I support Carolyn Maloney to become Ranking Member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee," Towns says in a statement sent my way. "She is next in line on the Committee, she has the seniority and competence to serve the Caucus well."

Initial reports this evening suggested that Towns also supported Cummings. But both Cummings and Maloney say that's not the case.

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Elijah Cummings

Switcharoo: Towns Out Of Oversight Spot, Kucinich Backs Cummings

Ryan J. Reilly | December 14, 2010, 7:14PM

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD)

Rep. Ed Towns (D-NY) made the surprise announcement on Tuesday night that he'll be stepping down as ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, setting up a fight between Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Elijah Cummings (D-MD) for the right to square off with incoming Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA).

"After much thought, Chairman Towns today made the decision not to seek the Ranking Member position on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee," a spokesman said in a statement.

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Oversight Committee

New York Congressmen Back Towns To Take On Issa

Brian Beutler | November 18, 2010, 2:22PM

Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY)

New York House Democrats, including members who lost their seats on November 2, want fellow New Yorker Edolphus Towns to keep the top spot on the Oversight Committee next year.

"As members of the New York delegation, we are supporting our colleague Rep. Edolphus Towns, current Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to become the committee's Ranking Member," the 25 Dems wrote in a letter to colleagues.

More on the brewing battle between towns and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) for the ranking member position here.

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Darrell Issa

Inside The High Stakes Fight To Take On Darrell Issa

Brian Beutler | November 17, 2010, 2:04PM

Reps. Ed Towns (D-NY) and Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)

The race is officially on to determine who will take on Darrell Issa next year as top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. But this contest is in a lot of ways more complicated than the other post-election power struggles we've seen in the last couple weeks. And unlike, say, the House Democratic Whip struggle, which centered on an inside-baseball leadership position, the stakes here are very public and very high.

The two principle combatants are the current Oversight Committee chair, Edolphus Towns, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) -- one of the committee's senior members.

According to Democratic aides who agreed to speak off the record to discuss the contest candidly, there's no easy answer here.

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