Scandal abroad, scandal at home. Yesterday, I noted that the non-partisan Congressional Research Service concluded that the Bush administration apparently broke the law by suppressing cost estimates about its Medicare plan. The CRS report confirmed the Dems’ worst fears and bolstered arguments that this is more than a political controversy; it’s also a legal one.
What’s less clear, at this point, is what happens next.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) said last month he’d pursue this matter with hearings and subpoenas if it involved “a violation of law.” Now that it does, we’ll see if Thomas’ word is worth anything.
Dems, however, are in a far different position. Before the CRS report was released, Dems, led by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), ranking member of the Government Reform Committee, have been planning a lawsuit over the information the Bush administration has refused to share, despite promises to the contrary.
With the CRS report in hand, however, some are calling for a different path. Roll Call ran an item today about Dems’ competing options.
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) said Tuesday that the CRS report should compel a Justice Department investigation into whether former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Tom Scully improperly told CMS Chief Actuary Rick Foster to withhold cost data on the Medicare prescription drug bill during last summer’s Congressional debate on the bill.
“Perhaps turning this over to the Justice Department will be warranted,” Daschle said. “We know enough about the facts to warrant investigations on all levels.”
Rep. Charlie Rangel’s (D-N.Y.) office, which requested the CRS report in the first place, is emphasizing the committee route.
Rangel’s “focus is on having a full committee hearing in public with all the information,” said [Rangel spokesman Dan] Maffei. “Maybe Justice may want to take a look at it, but the CRS report is predominantly talking about civil violations” not criminal ones that Justice would have purview over.
I don’t mean to be a split-the-difference kind of guy, but how about both? In the ’90s, Republicans didn’t hesitate to pursue committee hearings after bullying the DOJ to appoint “independent” prosecutors every time Clinton sneezed.
If we have a report pointing to possible criminal violations on the part of the Bush administration, it’s not unreasonable to think that Justice would launch an investigation and Congress would hold hearings to ask how and why lawmakers were lied to.
Just a thought.