The Daily MuckDavid Vitter made his way back to Capitol Hill yesterday, and received plenty of support from his Republican colleagues. But it’s Sen. John Thune’s (R-SD) comments that take the cake; he said, “people were supportive… They realize that he’s worked through this [during] this past week, that he’s ready to move forward.” Agreed. We’re glad this whole situation is behind us and will never be referenced again. (The Hill)
It depends on your definition of oversight. The chairman of the House intelligence committee Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) is coming under fire for refusing to release a report on the Duke Cunningham bribery scandal. Republicans wouldn’t make the report public while Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) headed the committee either. Reyes’ refusal is taking extra heat for not following through on the promise he made as incoming intelligence chairman. When asked what he would do differently than Hoekstra, Reyes replied, “In a word: oversight.” (ABC’s The Blotter)
But who will police them? Congress wants to keep a closer eye on the inspectors general, who are meant to act as independent overseers and auditors of federal agencies. (Roll Call)
The revolving door between Congress and K Street is working fine. Now, however, the door spins for Democrats, who have already sent 19 senior aides immediately into lobbyist practices since taking over as the majority party. (The Hill)
The list of corrupted non-partisan figureheads in the Bush administration keeps growing. Yesterday, papers have shown that the nation’s Drug Czar attended several events with vulnerable GOP incumbents to give the lawmakers a boost of support. The office pool has good money on the next corruption scandal being tacked on the head of the Federal Highway Administration. (LA Times)
Since 2003 food imports havedoubled . At the same time, the number of FDA inspectors has decreased. No wonder the regulation of foreign food is woefully inadequate. (NY Times)
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) has finally filed his annual Senate disclosure report. It only took two extensions. (Associated Press)
Despite the occasional moments of nationwide panic (ahem, SARS?) the U.S. is still having problems designing a response to an epidemic. (NY Times)