Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)

The last we heard from Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee was talking about possibly expanding the District’s budgetary autonomy. Today, he’s apparently headed in the opposite direction, introducing legislation that would dictate D.C. government hiring practices.

After releasing a relatively inconclusive report on the Sulaimon Brown affair this morning, Issa followed up this afternoon with the D.C. Employee Suitability Act, which would, amongst other things, require criminal background checks for certain senior D.C. officials and match the District to federal standards when it comes to hiring all government employees.

In a press release, Issa said of the legislation, which will be marked up on Thursday:

“This bill will help prevent past failures by ensuring that District of Columbia leaders are held accountable for conducting and reviewing the results of background checks when making hiring decisions. Unless or until District leaders stop apologizing for outrageous abuses in government and adopt measures to address these problems, congressional action is the only way to implement needed standards as a bulwark against cronyism.”

District officials did not react happily. D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton called the move a “brazen attack on the city’s autonomy,” while Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), who led the D.C. Council’s investigation into the Brown affair and related hiring scandals, told the Examiner’s Liz Farmer that Issa was stealing from her own legislation and preempting any council action.

“He’s borrowing from my own legislation. What a mark of failure of Congress that they can’t get anything done, so they attempt to get into the business of the District of Columbia. … We’re taking care of our own business,” Cheh told the Examiner.

Issa’s legislation isn’t particularly groundbreaking — it’s six pages long and only really says that potential D.C. government employees shouldn’t be criminals, active drug users or planning on overthrowing the U.S. government. As for senior officials, they simply have to submit to a criminal background check. Generally, it largely mirrors a proposal put forth by Cheh in September.

But because of how it was introduced and how intimately it touches upon local issues, it will certainly provoke a range of complaints from elected officials and D.C. voting rights activists.

And yes, it begs the question: doesn’t Congress have anything more important to do? (Apparently not.)

UPDATE (5 P.M.): Cheh just released a statement not only blasting Issa, but also saying that her own legislation does more than his.

“[T]he bill being offered by Rep. Issa addresses but one of the problems that we identified. My bill, on the other hand, takes a comprehensive approach to tackling the many issues we unearthed. These are serious problems and they must be addressed, but it is insulting for Congress to continue to inject itself where it is not needed. The District and its residents are entitled to Home Rule. Tomorrow I plan to introduce an emergency resolution opposing Congressional interference. I hope my colleagues will join me in this important statement on local autonomy,” she said.