congressional investigations

Aside from its legislative activities, Congress devotes much attention to investigations. Congressional investigations have uncovered wrongdoing within the executive branch, from obscure agencies up to the President's office. They have also focused on the military, private enterprise, and foreign agents. By uncovering this information and informing the public, investigations have often led to important reform legislation.

But critics have also dismissed congressional investigations as merely an opportunity for politicians to make headlines and appear on television. They have accused some investigations of trampling on the rights of witnesses and interfering with court proceedings. Critics have pointed out that many investigations produce no solid evidence and fail to lead to any legislation at all.

The first congressional investigation took place in 1792, when a special committee of the House looked into the disastrous expedition led by General Arthur St. Clair against the Shawnee and Miami Indians in Ohio, in which 657 American troops were killed. The House committee demanded that it see War Department records regarding this defeat. President George Washington complied with the committee's request, thereby acknowledging Congress's right to investigate.

Uncovering scandal

During the 19th century Congress investigated the military conduct of the Civil War, Ku Klux Klan violence against freedmen after the war, the circumstances surrounding the purchase of Alaska, and such railroad scandals as that involving Credit Mobilier, which involved the payment of bribes to key members of Congress. In the 20th century congressional investigating increased steadily. In 1923 the Senate's investigation of the Teapot Dome scandal discredited President Warren G. Harding's administration and sent his secretary of the interior, Albert B. Fall, to prison. During the 1930s the Senate banking committee drew many headlines with its investigation of the stock market crash of 1929 and the causes of the depression. Senator Harry S. Truman first rose to public notice by chairing an investigation of the national defense program during World War II.

During the cold war of the 1940s and 1950s, congressional investigations stirred up a “Red scare” by looking for communists in the government. The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) made news when Whittaker Chambers testified that former State Department official Alger Hiss had secretly been a communist and alleged that Hiss had engaged in espionage. Later, Senator Joseph R. McCarthy (Republican–Wisconsin) used his chairmanship of the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations to pursue allegations that communists were operating in the military and other government agencies. Critics charged HUAC and Senator McCarthy with “witch hunting” and accused congressional investigators of bullying witnesses and ignoring their civil rights and liberties.

Court rulings on investigations

Periodically, the Supreme Court has helped to define the scope and limitations of Congress's power to investigate. In McGrain v. Daugherty (1927) the Court ruled that anyone, even private citizens, could be subpoenaed (compelled) to testify before a congressional committee. And in Sinclair v. United States (1929) the Court said that Congress had the power to investigate anything related to legislation or oversight, the monitoring of the activities of executive agencies. But in Watkins v. United States (1957)—which involved a witness who declined to give names of suspected communists to HUAC—the Court ruled that Congress's investigative powers are limited by the Bill of Rights and that witnesses do not lose those rights when they testify.

Public approval of congressional investigations was restored in 1973 by the Watergate investigation. Chaired by Sam Ervin (Democrat–North Carolina), the special Senate committee painstakingly interrogated witnesses to link the White House to the burglary of Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate building in 1972. The investigation led to the resignations of many administration officials, including President Richard M. Nixon. The Watergate investigators established that in order for congressional investigations to be successful, investigators must treat witnesses seriously and with some degree of humanity; do their homework, no matter how much drudgery it entails; and persist until they have kept the issue in the media long enough to educate the public, expose wrongdoing, and suggest corrective action.

See also Ervin, Samuel J., Jr.; McCarthy, Joseph R.; Wall Street investigation (1932–34); Watergate investigation (1973–74)

Sources

• James Hamilton, The Power to Probe: A Study of Congressional Investigation (New York: Vintage, 1976).
• Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., and Roger Bruns, eds., Congress Investigates, 1792–1974: A Documented History, 5 vols. (New York: Bowker, 1975)