On May 9, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee convened a hearing examining employee misconduct at the EPA, and allegations that the agency’s Office of Homeland Security is actively obstructing its Office of Inspector General from conducting investigations. In this week’s Committee Spotlight, Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) provides a recap of the hearing, plus key clips of witness testimony.
WASHINGTON – The Republican Party chairman says Herman Cain provided an important voice in the presidential race, but candidates "come and go" during every primary and the field inevitably narrows.
Reince Priebus (ryns PREE'-bus) says Cain's polling numbers were falling and he was having trouble raising money, so the GOP chairman thinks it's "only natural" that the candidate pulled out about a month before the first vote.
But Priebus says the decision was up to Cain, who was battling allegations of sexual harassment and a claim that he had an extramarital affair. The Georgia businessman has denied the accusations.
Priebus says Cain might have a big role to play yet. But Priebus tells NBC's "Meet the Press" that depends on a politician having money and being to get out into the public.
WASHINGTON – Four Republican senators are asking the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's inspector general to investigate the agency's chairman for what they say is a continued pattern of withholding information from colleagues and acting unilaterally on the commission's behalf.
Lawmakers from both parties have criticized NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko, asserting that he has an overly secretive and controlling style.
The GOP lawmakers say the latest example stems from Jaczko's declaration in March that Japan's nuclear crisis constituted an emergency in the United States.
GOP Sens. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, John Barrasso of Wyoming, Jeff Sessions of Alabama and David Vitter of Louisiana said it is not clear that Jaczko had authority to make such a declaration, which grants him additional powers, since the crisis occurred on foreign soil. The senators also said they were not certain that Jaczko has rescinded the order, despite his public claims to the contrary.
A recent report by the NRC's inspector general said Jaczko withheld and manipulated information in an effort to stop work on a proposed radioactive waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The inspector general, Hubert Bell, said Jaczko's behavior was "wrong" but not illegal.
"We are concerned that this pattern of wrong behavior has not only continued, but expanded beyond the Yucca issue to the Fukushima review process," the lawmakers said Thursday in a letter to Bell, naming the Japanese nuclear plant.
They said Jaczko has repeatedly thwarted the five-member commission's ability to make decisions in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that crippled the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear facility.
An agency spokesman said Thursday that Jaczko acted within his authority, citing congressional testimony by the commission's top lawyer.
Steve Burns, the NRC's general counsel, told a Senate committee Aug. 2 that Jaczko's actions "were consistent with the powers that he has under the statute."
While there was no specific event at a U.S. nuclear plant, the Japanese crisis presented an overall "threat environment" to U.S. sites, Burns told the Senate Environment Committee.
Jaczko, testifying at the same hearing, said he had informally rescinded the order, adding that no formal report was necessary because he had kept commissioners informed of his actions all along.
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WASHINGTON – The chairman of the Republican Party is exhorting House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi to force embattled Congressman Anthony Weiner to resign.
Reince Priebus (Rynce PRE'-bus) tells NBC's "Today" show that both Pelosi and Democratic Party chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz have an obligation to force Weiner out in the wake of revelations the New York Democrat engaged in sexually provocative conduct, including sending a crotch shot photo from his Twitter account.
Priebus says he's against a House ethics investigation of Weiner, who has admitted wrongdoing. Priebus says such a probe would be, in his words, "a slow, drip, drip, drip type of story, and in a couple of weeks, my guess is he's going to have to resign because it's going to be such a distraction."