Senate Sub-Committee on Russian Cyber To Be Led by a Non-Competent
Tell me you’re joking.
In this Politico story it is reported that Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., is the most likely candidate to head the new Senate Armed Services sub-committee on the Russian cyber attacks on the election process in 2016. Whether the committee is commissioned to investigate possible linkage between the Trump camp and Russia is still unclear.
Graduate of South Dakota State University with a bachelor’s in political science, then state senator, then governor of South Dakota, becoming embroiled in a meat packing investment scandal, the climax of which was the suicide of a colleague by means of a shotgun blast to the belly, Mike Rounds appears unqualified to conduct an investigation into the complexities of the Russian involvement with the US presidential election.
And with some, that may be just fine. How many Republicans really want this investigation?
The importance of this sub-committee rests on the fact that so far it is the only committee whose sole purpose is to investigate the Russian interference in the 2016 election. However, it is conceivable that the possibility of Russia-Trump links may be pursued. My concern is that should the invstigation move in this direction, it is questionable how effective Rounds, the proposed chair, will be. There are constitutional issues, evidentiary issues, adjudication issues, jurisprudence issues. This is no place for an insurance salesman/realtor (and former governor of South Dakota) whose highest academic qualification is a bachelor’s degree. This is his first term, and considering the importance of the committee’s task, his experience as a senator is insufficient. He arrived in DC in 2015.
This committee needs someone who has some technical legal experience. The committee’s job is to investigate (not unlike a police department) but also to judge the evidence adduced. In this committee the chair will, I believe, have the power of subpoena. I don’t think the under-qualified Senator from South Dakota has sufficient forensic skills to decide from which direction the next witness will be coming.
One must compare this situation with a position that needs filling in the real world. Would a major corporation choose for a job that requires the above mentioned technical skills a person who possesses none of those technical skills?
No.
Government is the business of the people and in this case it seems government is operating without any consideration of standards. Appointing Mike Rounds only makes sense if this committee is designed to be ill-equipped for the job. It makes no sense if the committee is designed to be well-equipped for the job.
Another point. It seems peripheral, but I don’t think it is. The population of South Dakota is approximately 853,000. But exactly 140,741 people (approximately the population of Sioux Falls) sent Mike to D.C. I have misgivings about a senator who represents so few Americans being given this very important task. If the chair of this committee must go to a Republican, it should go to one with a larger voter base, and so reflect the concerns of a more representative slice of America. 140,000 South Dakotans are probably not a highly representative group. And it would be hard to find a senator that has a weaker constituency.
I don’t think it is appropriate that a senator without even minimum qualifications and who represents so few Americans should lead such an important committee.
I should point out that Mike Rounds’ record is questionable. Among his most dangerous actions as a senator has to be his voting against a bill to deny the sale of guns to suspected terrorists or who are on a terrorist watch list. And that was 8 days after the Orlando shootings.
However he did vote on a 3 day hold, which “authorizes the attorney general to delay the transfer of a firearm to an individual who has been investigated as a known or suspected terrorist for up to 3 days (Sec. 5).” Great, now we get an extra three days to live. Thank you, Mike.
Mike Rounds should not chair the Armed Services Sub-Committee on Russian Cyber. Probably the less responsibility Rounds has the safer we will all be.
