Lieberman: I’m Leaving the Iraq Stuff to Waxman

From Roll Call (sub.req.) …

“Rep. Waxman has taken a very hound-dog approach to contracting and federal spending issues, whereas Sens. Collins and Lieberman have taken a more conservative approach,” said Scott Amey, general counsel at the nonpartisan Project for Government Oversight.

Lieberman acknowledged in a recent interview that he has not been as focused on government contracting abuses as he has on the homeland security aspects of his panel.

“I’ve tended to want to focus on how we protect the homeland from terrorism, so we’ve done a lot of that,” he said.

Though Lieberman said he gets “angry when I hear about fraud or corruption in the spending of American dollars,” he said he in part chooses what to have hearings on by “watching who else is doing what,” noting that Waxman has held several hearings on Iraq oversight, as have the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees.

“You’ve got to set your own priorities, and it was clear to me that other committees were going to pick this up,” said Lieberman.

Lieberman also noted that the House split government oversight and homeland security between two different committees, making their caseload more manageable.

Still, critics say they don’t understand why Lieberman has not followed Waxman’s example, and they say his support for the war should make him more likely, not less, to hold oversight hearings.

“He supports the war. So why does he not investigate the things that undermine the mission?” asked Charlie Cray, director of the nonpartisan watchdog Center for Corporate Policy.