The power vacuum created by Rep. Jason Chaffetz’s announcement that he might resign early from his “oversight” post along with his perfectly timed medical emergency has left Paul Ryan and other GOP leaders facing a horrifying prospect: Freedom Caucus control of the Oversight Committee. Politico writes:
The committee, which is charged with investigating the executive branch, is stacked with prominent Freedom Caucus members whom House GOP leadership doesn’t trust. Chief among them is Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a ringleader of the group of far-right agitators. Jordan has made a name for himself as one of the most aggressive Oversight interrogators, but he’s also been a huge problem for leadership over the years.
Jordan is next in line if the most senior member, Rep. Jimmy Duncan of Tennessee, decides not to run.
And who wants the thankless role of investigating a Republican president running one of the most scandal-ridden administrations in the nation's history? Freedom Caucus member Rep. Mark Sanford (of Appalachian trail fame), who's fourth in line for the gavel, explains the potential pitfalls of Freedom Caucus-driven oversight—goodness knows what they'll do.
"I've been fairly robust in calling for the president [to release] his tax returns. I think historically in that [OGR] role, they've generally wanted someone quiet, or compliant, you pick the word, as it relates to the administration in power" being from the same party.
In other words, they want someone who looks like they're doing something without actually producing anything substantive. And House leadership—the establishment Republicans who will vote on who gets the gavel—has their man.
They've begun buttonholing Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) — the former chairman of the House Benghazi Committee and a dark-horse candidate for the Oversight post — to run, according to multiple House sources.
No one better than Trey "Benghazi" Gowdy for the role of conducting a years-long investigation costing millions of taxpayer dollars that produces nothing other than the spectacle of oversight.