Congressional Oversight of the Clinton Administration and Congressional Procedure

This article demonstrates the significant role congressional practices and procedures play in shaping congressional oversight and administrative law. Using the positive political theory and its objective approach to government institutions, the author examines how congressional procedures interact with Congress' influence on agency action.Analyzing the roles of committees, the appropriations process, and the differences between Senate and House procedures, the author explains how congressional procedures have shaped U.S. military action, environmental efforts, and Medicare budgets. Through these and other examples, the author demonstrates the importance of the oversight system in a functioning democracy. Congressional oversight, through its dealings with expenditures, national security, and health care issues, creates an orderly system of lawmaking that affects every aspect of public life. Therefore, the rules governing its practice and procedures cannot be ignored.