White House For Sale

White House For Sale

David Corn

March 29, 2007

David Corn is The Nation 's Washington editor and the author with Michael Isikoff of Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War .

It's a cliché: what a difference a Democratic congressional majority makes. The U.S. attorney scandal, Walter Reed, the suppression of global warming data, the FBI's misuse of national security letters—Democratic legislators have been demanding documents, testimony and answers. Given that they now hold the purse strings and can shoot out subpoenas, the Democrats can no longer be ignored by the White House, executive agencies and the media. Representative Henry Waxman, the relentless Democratic chairman of the government oversight and reform committee, has been leading the pack in investigating allegations of administration wrongdoing. There's a lot for Waxman to cover, and he's being thorough. Consider the letter he sent the White House on March 27.