Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), ranking member of the House Committee on Financial Services, urged committee chairman, Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) to amend the consolidation of decision-making authorities as well as the lack of transparency amongst Republican Committee Members.
“Last Congress, Democrats on this Committee expressed serious concerns with your new, centralized, aggressive investigative powers, which stripped away any real ability for Democrats to have a say in the investigations conducted by this committee,” Waters said.
As an example, she cited the newly granted unilateral authority to issue subpoenas without consulting her, the ranking member, or without a committee vote.
“History already proves that the subpoena authority was mismanaged and abused. Last Congress, for example, Republicans would constantly bully agencies and staff by threatening them with subpoenas in order to retrieve documents and force people to appear before Congress,” Waters said.
“By refusing to allow committee members to vote on the issuance of subpoenas, and granting that authority to just one individual, we are stripping each and every member of this committee – except the chairman – of a core function; that profound responsibility of overseeing the agencies and entities within the jurisdiction of our committee,” Waters added.
The fact that this change carries over into the 115th congress is worrisome, Waters added.
Waters also said she hopes Hensarling employs the same aggressive oversight he employed with the Obama administration to hold the Trump administration accountable.
“Given this Committee’s track record of engaging in abusive oversight of the Obama Administration, I truly cannot wait to see whether the Chairman will be equally interested in the work of the Trump Administration,” Waters said.
The ranking member also said it is imperative to know about any potential conflicts of interest that witnesses, both governmental and non-governmental, may have.
“In closing, I just want to underscore how disturbing this trend toward consolidation of decision-making authority and lack of transparency has become, not only in our committee and the House, but also in the new administration. I hope that you will seriously consider some of the amendments we offer today that would bring accountability, checks, and balances back to the work of this committee,” Waters said.