Investigations

Investigations are the eyes and ears of the legislative branch. They test the effectiveness of existing laws and document the need for new legislation. They inquire into the performance of government officials, including members of Congress themselves. They expose waste and corruption in government. They educate the public on great issues of the day.

Investigations have given Congress some of its finest hours, and some of its most deplorable. They have transformed minor politicians into household names and have broken the careers of important officials. Since 1948, television has permitted millions of Americans to witness some of the high drama congressional investigations can generate.

Harry S. Truman and Richard Nixon both gained national fame for their leadership of congressional investigations before they attained the presidency. Truman, a Democratic senator from Missouri, won distinction during World War II for his committee's investigation of the nation's defense program. As a Republican representative from California, Nixon drew wide attention in 1948 for his zealous investigations of suspected communists in the government.

Soon afterward, Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, a Republican from Wisconsin, captured the spotlight. He skillfully used speeches, press releases, and hearings to accuse—often falsely—many prominent Americans of being communists or communist sympathizers. McCarthy was widely feared, but gradually public sentiment shifted as television cameras displayed his antics during hearings in 1953 and 1954. A Senate inquiry into McCarthy's conduct led to a vote of censure by his colleagues in 1954, ending his political power. (See Disciplining Members.)

Twenty years later President Nixon was forced from office by the threat of impeachment arising from investigations into the Watergate scandal. The House Judiciary Committee recommended his impeachment in the summer of 1974, after a dramatic television debate that helped prepare the nation to accept the resignation [Page p235]of a president it had overwhelmingly reelected less than two years earlier. (See Nixon Impeachment Effort.)

The Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, known as the Watergate Committee, contributed to the impeachment inquiry by exposing the efforts of the Nixon administration to cover up political sabotage and other illegal activities. Sen. Sam J. Ervin Jr., the North Carolina Democrat who chaired the panel, observed that the power to investigate is a double-edged sword in the hands of Congress. He said, “The congressional investigation can be an instrument of freedom. Or it can be freedom's scourge. A legislative inquiry can serve as the tool to pry open the barriers that hide governmental corruption. It can be the catalyst that spurs Congress and the public to support vital reforms in our nation's laws. Or it can debase our principles, invade the privacy of our citizens, and afford a platform for demagogues and the rankest partisans.”

The Investigative Process