Incoming Oversight chairman outlines broad array of probes

The incoming chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee plans a broad series of new investigations in the Republican-held House.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) announced on Monday a series of investigations he intends to launch in the new year from his perch atop the oversight post.

The California Republican said he planned to look at mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the “impact of government hyperregulation on job creation,” the work of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, WikiLeaks, the work of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), corruption in Afghanistan and other items. 

The initial list of planned hearings, announced on Twitter on Monday, has an unmistakably economic focus, keeping with the tone Republicans are hoping to set in their first few months in office. But it also expands into areas of foreign policy and general performance of the federal bureaucracy.

The Oversight Committee can become a thorn in the side of an administration when the chairman is of the opposing party of the president, as is Issa.

Issa made waves by promising aggressive oversight and hearings of the administration in his new role, and has attracted headlines most recently after calling President Obama’s administration the “most corrupt.”