GOP Still Has Tools To Keep The Heat On White House About Job Offers

The top Republicans on the House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform committees will use several tools at their disposal to keep the pressure on the White House over political job offers to primary candidates in the days and weeks ahead.

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the ranking member on Judiciary, on Friday reminded Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) of his aggressive two-year investigation of the George W. Bush administration’s political firing of U.S. attorneys and urged him to pursue questions about the Obama White House’s offer of political appointments to candidates in contested Democratic primaries with the same ardor.

Smith also requested a Judiciary Committee hearing as soon as Congress returns from the Memorial Day recess.

“Under your leadership, the Judiciary Committee spent two years investigating allegations of politicization at the Justice Department— subpoenaing witnesses, demanding tens of thousands of pages of documents, and holding hearings,” he said. “And yet, when it appears that the Obama White House itself has engaged in possible unlawful political activity, Democrats in Congress are noticeably silent.”

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