Democrat Leaders Rally To Save Janet Napolitano's Job

Democrats Plot To Protect Janet Napolitano


Democrats worried about protecting the homeland in wake of the Christmas Day terror plot are also working to protect one of their own: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

With at least seven congressional committees investigating the failures behind the terror plot, Democrats are carefully gaming out the testimony of Napolitano to spare her from the worst of the GOP criticism.

First, they may shield her from the Senate Judiciary Committee, keeping conservative senators like Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and others from bashing her in a major public forum. She may instead appear before the Senate Commerce Committee, where some expect her to receive gentler treatment.

Next, the White House is working on Sen. Joe Lieberman, the mercurial chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, to avoid an ugly clash in his hearings. Lieberman will grill the secretary but won’t call for Napolitano to resign, and he could reiterate his support for her remaining at the DHS post, Senate aides say.

“To some extent it’s going to be a free-for-all; we are as angry as anybody about this,” said an aide to a senior Senate Democrat. “But apart from saying the wrong thing early on, the breaches aren’t really the fault of Napolitano and DHS, so she’s not going to be the target.”

In the House, the chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee had seemed to punt on hearings, opting instead for a Government Accountability Office inquiry, until saying Friday in a letter to committee members that he did “plan to hold oversight hearings.”

And while Democrats are figuring out how to look tough while protecting a top official in the hot seat, the House Homeland Security Committee is getting frustrated.

Should the secretary appear — Napolitano is scheduled to return from a trip abroad a day before the scheduled Jan. 27 hearing — she will face questions from both Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and the fiery top Republican, Rep. Peter King of New York.

Thompson said he “won’t give her an unequivocal endorsement because there have been missteps,” but he isn’t calling for her resignation.

Thompson says he is frustrated with the Obama White House and Napolitano for what he considers subpar communication with the House committee. Since the incident two weeks ago, Thompson said he has not spoken with National Security Adviser Jim Jones or top presidential adviser John Brennan. Thompson, however, has spoken to Napolitano at least twice since the incident, he said.

On Friday afternoon, Thompson was preparing a letter to President Barack Obama outlining concerns he has with how the White House handled the Christmas Day plot.

“There is real concern on the committee that the communication between Napolitano and the House Homeland Security Committee is not where it should be,” Thompson told POLITICO Friday morning. “The secretary is not as communicative with members of Congress as she needs to be.”

Thompson’s comments show the fine line Democrats are walking on the terrorism investigation. They want to look tough and demand responsibility from the White House, but they don’t want to do any serious political damage.

“I don’t think you’re going to see Democrats march in lock step with the [Obama] administration on this,” said a senior Senate Democratic aide. “We’re not going to walk the plank for the White House in these hearings.”

No matter what happens in these hearings, however, Republicans are ready to pounce, and they want Napolitano to personally answer their questions. A handful of Republicans have called on the secretary to resign.

“Janet Napolitano, start with that,” King said when asked what he wants in the late-January hearings.

Napolitano was heavily criticized for claiming “the system worked” in the immediate aftermath of the failed bomb attack, but she later backtracked from that comment. Democratic aides believe Napolitano “has gotten through the worst of it” and is not in danger of being forced out or resigning, but they also realize that she may get battered a bit in these oversight hearings.

And even though Obama has used the “buck stops with me” line regarding the terrorism plot, his public statements have constantly reminded people that agencies blew it. Obama has also publicly acknowledged the “failure” by the Homeland Security Department and U.S. intelligence agencies in pre-empting the botched attack, and he said he was personally responsible to the American people for their security.

The president’s steps were intended to reduce some of the angst among Capitol Hill Democrats, yet there is still apprehension about how far Republicans will go in seeking to capitalize on the incident.

By the end of January, the terror investigation will have involved at least seven congressional panels, including the House and Senate Intelligence committees, the House and Senate Homeland Security committees, the Senate Commerce Committee and the House Armed Services Committee. Many of these committees will also brief members privately on classified matters.

Republicans also say they won’t be satisfied just to hear from Napolitano. King is also looking to press Democrats into calling CIA Director Leon Panetta and Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair to testify.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is perhaps the embodiment of the political problem that Democrats face in dealing with the botched terror attack.

Chairman Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) had seemed to opt out of holding his own hearing on Flight 253 — as Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), ranking member on the panel, had demanded — and instead ordered the GAO to investigate the incident.

Republicans responded to Towns’s blocking tactic by issuing a detailed spreadsheet of every time the committee investigated terrorism when the GOP held power in Congress. Republicans have accused Towns of being “derelict” in his duties.

Towns sees pure politics in the GOP push to hold hearings.

"Their primary demand seems to be that the committee hold 'immediate hearings' that require testimony from 'every government agency,'" Towns said in a letter sent to committee members on Friday. "I do not understand the purpose of holding hearings prior to conducting any investigation, except to provide a platform for uninformed grandstanding that occupies the time of officials who are busy keeping our nation safe."

Towns said Friday that he was “reviewing this matter and plan to hold oversight hearings.”


Sources: Politico