Congressional oversight of executive branch agencies is a key element of the checks and balances that prevent accumulation of too much power, as well as abuse of that power, in any one part of government. A review of two recent congressional oversight endeavors now being stymied by the Obama Administration underscores the often-overlooked importance of the oversight process. In both cases, lives are at stake.
The first instance relates to a formal request from House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) regarding a particularly egregious waste of taxpayer dollars at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH-funded research helps us live longer and healthier lives. Although NIH is well-funded, its resources are finite. Funding wasteful projects diverts money from important life-saving research.
In a March 3, 2016 letter to Linda Birnbaum, director of the NIH's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and National Toxicology Program, Chairman Chaffetz requested documents and communications related to NIEHS funding of research and possible advocacy on bisphenol A, better known as BPA......To Read More....
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