Oversight Committees Audits and Special Investigations

Purpose of Oversight Committees
The oversight committee is an investigative body with authority to investigate issues within the committee’s jurisdiction (Committee on Oversight and Reform, n.d). The oversight committee has the mandate to investigate matters within its mandate. Congressional oversight in the U.S. congress provides oversight over the executive arm of government including the various federal agencies. The role of congressional oversight includes monitoring, supervision, and review of the federal programs, agencies, policy implementation, and activities. Congress has the power to oversight. This power is acquired through the committee system of congress (Committee on Oversight and Reform, n.d). Oversight is also present in various other congressional contexts and activities. Oversight duties include investigation, appropriation, authorization, and legislative hearings carried out by standing committees, studies and reviews by the staff and agencies that provide support to congress, and special investigations conducted by select committees.
Oversight authority by congress comes from the implied constitutional powers, senate and house rules, and public laws. The oversight committee offers checks and balances to the government. The responsibilities of the house oversight committee are set out in the house rules. The rules provide that the oversight committee will be charged with the responsibility of studying and reviewing the administration, effectiveness, execution, and application of programs and laws relating to subject matters within the jurisdiction of that committee (Committee on Oversight and Reform, n.d). The oversight committee is also charged with operation and organization of federal entities and agencies that have duty to execute and administer programs and laws within its jurisdiction. The oversight committee also conducts forecasting and research on matters within its jurisdiction.
Rather than go on a fact finding mission it is better to have experts evaluating projects and overseeing their progress (Schultz, 2003). The oversight committee verifies and examines factual information provided by one side with the possible consequences on either party taken into consideration (Schultz, 2003). Oversight committees often employed in politically charged and complex conflicts. The committees comprise of people with expertise in various fields who work to verify the project. The oversight committee will make an attempt at ensuring that he project in question is thorough, complete, and objective. Thoroughness means that the project is solid (Schultz, 2003). Completeness means that all alternatives and considerations are considered, and objective means that conflicting interests and biases are alleviated.
There are several advantages to using the services of oversight committees. Oversight committees are cost effective as compared to fact finding committees. An oversight committee actively prevents mismanagement, misuse, and theft of resources (Schultz, 2003). An oversight committee is an independent and separate entity. This means that classified information and corporate secrets are controlled. Biases are also minimized because only experts are involved. Oversight committees can also mediate between the public and active organization (Schultz, 2003). The committee assists in demystifying the otherwise complex matters through publicizing reports that provide facts in a language that the public will comprehend.
Program evaluation entails examining what programs entail, the costs of those programs, and the impact that the programs have. The oversight committee will recommend the policy options that should be considered with regard to the programs that are judged as necessary or no longer suitable (CDC/ATSDR Committee on Community Engagement, 2011). The oversight committee follows up to ensure that the agencies involved in the program have implemented the recommendations and assess whether any further action might be necessary. The evaluation process begins by defining the stakeholders of the program. The stakeholders in this case are the recipients, implementers, supporters, and those who make decisions in relation to the program. The oversight committee will get different perspectives about the program by involving all stakeholders and hence determine the common expectations (CDC/ATSDR Committee on Community Engagement, 2011). With this it becomes possible to clarify the project objectives and goals and everyone get good comprehension of the program purpose.
The other process in program evaluation is description of the program. The oversight committee must articulate the purpose of the program and the set goals from the program. In short, the oversight committee seeks to understand the essence of the program (CDC/ATSDR Committee on Community Engagement, 2011). The oversight committee then goes ahead to focus the evaluation design. The evaluation process may focus on activities, output, resources, means, and process. The focus can be the project outcomes and how well the goals were achieved. Both the outcomes and processes can be evaluated. The other program evaluation process is evidence gathering. Quantitative and qualitative data can be evaluated (CDC/ATSDR Committee on Community Engagement, 2011). Qualitative data captures the behavior, value, experience, sensory response, observable phenomena, or feelings etc. Quantitative methods identify measurable information. Surveys, questionnaires, or counting systems can be used to gather this information.
The other program evaluation process is making conclusions. In this stage the fundamental question is answered. At this stage the program is judged as making things better, worse, or stagnant. Evaluation data can be compared against the established standards by program funders or stakeholders. Other programs can be used as standards of expectation. The final stage is reporting and dissemination. The program outcomes must be utilized for the purpose of quality improvement.
Recently the House of Representatives and senate oversight committees deliberated on the southern border wall funding proposed by President Trump and voted to block trump from accessing federal funds to build it (Cochrane, 2019). The concern was that the use of public funds to fund the southern border wall was tantamount to misuse of public funds in a project that adds no value to the American people. Although Mr. Trump vetoed the resolution by both houses of parliament this is a classic example of parliament working to ensure that public resources are put to good use.
Audits and Special Investigations
Audits and special investigations are used for the purposes of ensuring that public resources were utilized in a manner that is beneficial to the project stakeholders. Audits ensure that the government agencies are accountable and that the project meets the requirements of verifiability and that it is thorough, complete, and objective (Schultz, 2003). Special investigations are occasioned by different categories of allegations. Allegations can prompt the oversight committee to launch special investigations. These allegations may include government enforcement issues, allegations and suspicions of misconduct by directors and senior management, and financial impropriety and irregularities (ACLN, 2018). Allegations that threaten the integrity of the company may prompt the audit committee to institute special investigations.
Factors That Influence Oversight
Some of the factors influencing oversight include availability of financial resources, political atmosphere, support or lack of it from investigative agencies and other arms of government, jurisdictional authority to access information, ability to sermon private players etc. The output of an oversight committee can be affected by the willingness of government agencies to cooperate. If the political environment is hostile and the work of the oversight committee is politicized, the effectiveness of the oversight committee is likely to be greatly affected. On the other hand, if the oversight committee is motivated by political interests then the authenticity of the oversight responsibilities may be questionable.
IF government agencies deny the oversight body’s access to information in an attempt to use delay tactics to defeat justice, then the effectiveness of the oversight body will be greatly affected. Legal technicalities can be used as a way to derail the effectiveness of the oversight committee as well.



References
ACLN (2018). Audit Committee Leadership Network, April 2016, Tapestry Networks. Retrieved 19 March, 2019 from https://www.tapestrynetworks.com/publications/oversight-special- investigations
CDC/ATSDR Committee on Community Engagement. (2011). Principles of Community Engagement. NIH Publication No. 11-7782, http: ??www.cdc.gov/ phppo/pce/. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2015.04.014
Cochrane, E. (2019). House Votes to Block Trump’s National Emergency Declaration about the Border, The New York Times. Retrieved 19 March, 2019 from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/26/us/politics/national-emergency-vote.html
Committee on Oversight and Reform (n.d.). Committee Jurisdiction, House committee on Oversight and Reform. Retrieved 19 March, 2019 from https://oversight.house.gov/about/committee-jurisdiction
Schultz, N. (2003). Oversight/Review Committee, Beyond Intractability. Retrieved 19 March, 2019 from https://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/oversight-committee