A Dangerous Precedent?

I commented earlier on Rep. Jefferson and his planned appointment to the Homeland Security committee. Republicans are now planning to force a recorded vote on the appointment, according to a Washington Post report, on the assumption that some Democrats will be unwilling to go public with their support of this nomination.

What’s more interesting to me, is the reaction of a Pelosi spokesman:

Brendan Daly, a spokesman for Pelosi, said that if Republicans follow through on their threat, they would set a “dangerous precedent. A number of their own members are under investigation,” he said, referring to Republicans allegedly under scrutiny by the Justice Department.

In just what way would it be bad to open up those individuals to further scrutiny? Perhaps corrupt representatives should object, in the interest of self-preservation, but why should others? I would not maintain that everyone under investigation should be refused appointments, though I do think there is a serious problem when such a committee has access to classified information. Nonetheless, I think it would be an excellent idea for every congressman to put his view on the record in such cases. Come election season, we could check the votes and the disposition of the cases and see whether our congressman used good judgment in supporting such candidates. In fact, I think it would be wonderful if there were a recorded vote on anyone under investigation. In order to provide time for such activity one could cancel some of the maneuvering and political “face time” provided by the manner in which congressional debate is managed.