Ron Johnson Will Head Senate’s Chief Oversight Committee

When Republicans take over control of the U.S. Senate next year, Ron Johnson will become chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

The committee is the chief oversight committee of the U.S. Senate. It has two goals: to prevent waste, fraud and abuse in federal government programs and to provide oversight for the Department of Homeland Security.

The committee has recently held hearings on the militarization of local police departments and cybersecurity.

Johnson, who has been serving on the committee since 2011, said that he sees his chairmanship as an opportunity to identify and weed out problems in federal programs.

“It’s all about using the committee to highlight and define, to expose for the American public exactly where government is not efficient, where it’s not very effective, so that you can actually craft solutions to solve those problems,” said Johnson

Johnson said he will also take a hard look at federal regulations. He sees that as a place where he and Democratic committee members can find common ground.

“Businesses from our state, from Wisconsin, are coming in and talking about the burden of federal regulations. And so there are plenty of Democratic senators that hear from businesses in their state as well. And I think that’s one of the number one things we can do to get the economy moving,” said Johnson.

For the homeland security element of the committee, Johnson said that securing U.S. borders has to be a top priority: “Not only so we can solve the problem of illegal immigration, but also as a public health and safety issue, as well as a national security issue.”

The 114th Congress will begin its legislative session on Jan. 3.