Tony Snow: Congress Has No Oversight Ability

From TPM Muckraker we get to watch Tony Snow say:

The executive branch is under no compulsion to testify to Congress, because Congress in fact doesn't have oversight ability.

If you don't think that's a significant quote, it's not because you're not a constitutional scholar. It's because you didn't pay attention in elementary school. We should all know this. Think of the one glaring example: impeachment. Would Tony Snow say that Congress didn't have that ability? That oversight ability? Would he have said that when they impeached President Clinton? It's unbelievable that we live in a time we're such a thing could even be uttered by a White House official without that official immediately turning bright red, pissing his pants, and calling out for his momma.

Here is an excellent report (pdf), prepared for Congress in January, 2006, on congressional oversight of the presidency. The summary:

Congressional oversight of policy implementation and administration has occurred throughout the history of the United States government under the Constitution. Oversight — the review, monitoring, and supervision of operations and activities — takes a variety of forms and utilizes various techniques. These range from specialized investigations by select committees to annual appropriations hearings, and from informal communications between Members or congressional staff and executive personnel to the use of extra congressional mechanisms, such as offices of inspector general and study commissions. Oversight, moreover, is supported by a variety of authorities — the Constitution, public law, and chamber and committee rules — and is an integral part of the system of checks and balances between the legislature and the
executive. This report will be updated as events require.

And a great excerpt:

The authority to oversee derives from these constitutional powers. Congress could not carry them out reasonably or responsibly without knowing what the executive is doing; how programs are being administered, by whom, and at what cost; and whether officials are obeying the law and complying with legislative intent.