(Source: MIRS.news, Published 12/04/2024) House Republicans are planning a ramped up oversight committee for next year, possibly with subcommittees, that would be charged with investigating issues within state government, such as the state’s troubled foster care programs, $4,000 coffee pots and questionable expenditures. 

MIRS has learned the Republicans under the presumed next speaker, Rep. Matt Hall (R-Richland Township), will treat the oversight committee the same as the appropriations committee and standing committees as a whole. 

The goal is to make sure the government is working well, and that money is being spent wisely. 

Logistically, there are still several questions. The size of the committee isn’t known, although it promises to be larger than today’s nine-member committee. Some members want the committee to be given subpoena powers, but that hasn’t been ironed out, yet, according to a source. 

The committee will have a unique process in which subcommittees or a team of members will be asked to dive into specific issues over a period of months. 

In Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's first four years, then-Oversight Committee Chair Hall and Steve Johnson did deeper dives than prior House committees. This committee promises to be even more extensive with the Democratic governor completing her final two years. 

It will be more than going through a department budget, a source told MIRS. 

“It’s going to be a big, big thing over the next two years,” the source said.