Quote of note:
"Party has trumped institutional responsibility," said Thomas E. Mann, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "The sense of shared political stakes bridging either end of Pennsylvania Avenue has overwhelmed any sense of institutional responsibility."
Even Some in G.O.P. Call for More Oversight of Bush
By CARL HULSE
WASHINGTON, May 30 - Members of Congress have a proud tradition of asking witnesses tough questions at famous inquiries like the Watergate and Iran-contra hearings. Now the Iraqi prison abuse scandal has some lawmakers asking a hard question of themselves: What doesn't Congress know and why doesn't it know it?
…The issue burst into the open in recent days as the Senate and House took starkly different approaches to the prison abuse inquiry, with the Senate holding a series of high-profile hearings and the House one public session. House Republican leaders criticized the Senate for grandstanding on the issue, and the House rejected a Democratic push for a broader inquiry.
…Mr. Hastert dismisses the rising criticism of the House's oversight record as a partisan effort to build a political case against the Republican leadership. He said the majority had actively kept abreast of developments in Iraq, though it might not be conducting the "show trials" he said Democrats would prefer.
