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64 Wayne L. Rev. 1 (2018-2019)
Defining Congressional Oversight and Measuring Its Effectiveness

handle is hein.journals/waynlr64 and id is 9 raw text is: DEFINING CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT AND MEASURING ITS EFFECTIVENESS BY FORMER SENATOR CARL LEVINt AND ELISE J. BEAN: I. AUTHORITY OF CONGRESS TO INVESTIGATE ...................................... 2 II. WHO CONDUCTS CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATIONS ....................... 5 III. TYPES OF OVERSIGHT INVESTIGATIONS .......................................... 9 IV . OVERSIGHT M ECHANISM S ................................................................ 11 V. MAJORITY VERSUS MINORITY INFORMATION REQUESTS .............. 14 VI. MEASURING EFFECTIVENESS ........................................................ 17 A. Measuring the Quality of an Investigation .............................. 18 B. M easuring Bipartisanship ....................................................... 19 C. M easuring Credibility .............................................................. 21 D . M easuring Policy Impacts ....................................................... 21 Article I of the U.S. Constitution establishes the Congress of the United States and bestows upon it a long list of notable powers, including the power to enact legislation, raise revenue, and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the country.1 One key congressional power that is not explicitly enumerated in the Constitution, but has since been recognized as fundamental to congressional operations, is its power to conduct oversight investigations.2 The power to investigate plays an essential role in every aspect of the legislative function. If Congress wants to evaluate existing laws, determine whether new laws are needed, or author useful legislation, it needs to understand the problems at issue and how the current system t Michigan's longest-serving Senator, having represented the state for six terms from 1979 to 2015. During his Senate tenure, he served in leadership posts on the Armed Services Committee, and on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, where he became known for the oversight investigations he led. After his retirement from the Senate, he joined the Law School faculty at Wayne State University and became chair of the Levin Center at Wayne Law, a nonprofit dedicated in part to strengthening fact-based, bipartisan, high-quality congressional oversight. * Elise J. Bean worked for Senator Levin for nearly thirty years in the U.S. Senate, first as an investigator, and later as his staff director and chief counsel on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. She is now a co-director of the Levin Center's Washington office. 1. U.S. CONST. art. I, § 8. 2. For purposes of this paper, the terms oversight and investigation are intended to encompass the full range of inquiries conducted by Congress, whether short or long term, routine or special, targeting the public or private sector, or conducted by a committee or individual member of Congress, as explained infra. 1

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