Fangs Not Included

Of late some commentators have opined that Congress has dropped the ball on its role in providing oversight over the Executive Branch.  If anyone in Congress needs help the Congressional Research Service has produced a handy Congressional Oversight Manual.  It's kind of a "How-to" guide for Congress.  With sections like "Improve the Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Economy of Government Operations" and "Protect Individual Rights and Liberties" the Manual lays out what Congress should be striving to achieve.  The manual goes further and gives Congress direction on how to achieve oversight through investigations, hearings, the media, etc.  If this CRS report isn't enough on its own, Appendix D lists a series of Congressional Oversight videos for those more right-brained types. 

Hopefully, if Congress puts this guide to good use, it'll add some bite to Congress' bark.