Last week, the House near-unanimously passed a measure that would grant subpoena power to the White House commission probing the spill. But DeMint is blocking it from proceeding in the Senate:I'm fairly sure that this is known in political science circles as "having your cake and eating it too."On the Senate floor, Republican Jim DeMint blocked a move to bring up a Democrat-sponsored bill that would have granted subpoena power to the White House oil spill commission. A similar measure passed the House last week by a vote of 420-1.
A spokesman for DeMint said the South Carolina senator himself does not object to giving the commission subpoena power, but was acting on behalf of "members of the Republican conference."
So according to DeMint's spokesman, DeMint is holding this up at the behest of other unnamed Senators in the GOP conference. This, even as House Republicans voted en masse to support it.
A senior GOP aide I spoke to says Republicans aren't sure why DeMint is doing this. He says DeMint may simply want to study the issue. But given DeMint's reputation for being somewhat less-than-deliberative in making decisions, this isn't exactly reassuring.
To be clear, House Republicans support subpoena power for the commission, so this isn't on them. But it's hard to see how DeMint is helping Republicans make the case that they are as serious about probing BP and holding it accountable as Issa is about unleashing an army of investigators on the White House.