Second-term presidents have been dogged by scandals: Nixon and Watergate; Reagan and Iran-Contra; Clinton and that stained dress; George W. Bush and the Valerie Plame spy leak. So as Barack Obama settles into the White House for four more years, legislators on Capitol Hill are already digging for a similar embarrassment as they try to impede his first-term accomplishments. There were surprisingly few large-scale congressional investigations during 2012, at least for an election year, said Robert Kelner, chairman of Covington & Burling’s election and political law practice group. But he expects that to change. “I think there is a bit of pent-up demand,” Kelner said. “And I think that Republicans in the House, in particular, are gearing up to launch second-term investigations of the Obama administration.”
In the Senate, Democrats are expected to use their majority to investigate Wall Street and big financial institutions, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its “London Whale” trading loss. They also could tackle broad privacy concerns involving Internet and technology companies and the collection of personal information, attorneys said. Of course, it’s impossible to say whether congressional inquiries will uncover any real scandals, or which topics will catch fire. But House Republicans have already indicated plans to dig into a number of lingering issues: the implementation of the Affordable Care Act; the legitimacy of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; greenhouse-gas regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
