A month ago, House Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis (R-Va.), who leads a special committee investigating the emergency response to Hurricane Katrina, sounded like he was fed up with the White House. His panel had waited for the Bush gang to produce documents lawmakers had requested — relating in particular to communication records between agencies — but the White House decided not to cooperate. Davis announced that he was “ready to proceed with subpoenas.”
Now it’s time to see if he meant it.
Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.) will attempt to test Rep. Tom Davis’s (R-Va.) resolve to conduct a vigorous investigation of the administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina by trying to subpoena documents from the White House today.
Melancon will offer as many as four subpoena motions at a hearing of the House select committee on Hurricane Katrina today, his spokesman said, seeking specific communications from the White House, the Defense Department and the governors of Mississippi and Alabama.
This isn’t exactly generating big news, but it should make for a pretty interesting political showdown. When this special committee was created in Katrina’s wake, congressional Dems initially refused to participate because they assumed Republicans would be afraid to push the administration, even when necessary.
This is a chance for Davis and his GOP colleagues to prove Dems wrong. The committee asked for specific and relevant documents; the White House said no. The committee set a deadline for document production; the White House again said no. Now committee Dems are ready to take the next logical step, following up on Davis’ on threats.
The Hill reported that Republicans will face “significant pressure from the White House and Republican leaders to thwart the subpoena motions.” That’s predictable, but what are they prepared to do about it?
At the committee’s first hearing, back in September, Davis said the panel would “investigate thoroughly what went wrong and what went right,” would “do it by the book,” and would “let the chips fall where they may.” It looks like those comments will be put to the test.
Update: This afternoon, Davis decided not to subpoena the White House, at least not right now. His committee, however, is going after the Pentagon, which isn’t cooperating either.