Issa to Cummings: Sorry

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) apologized to Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) for cutting off his microphone during a heated hearing on alleged Internal Revenue Service abuses.

In a telephone conversation Thursday with U-T San Diego, the House Oversight Committee chairman said, “I could have offered to reopen the hearing and allowed him to make a second statement. As chairman, I should have been much more sensitive to the mood of what was going on, and I take responsibility.”

{mosads}“Mr. Cummings is a member of Congress who works very hard for his constituents,” he added.

Issa called what happened “an unfortunate incident” and said he and Cummings, the top Democrat on the Oversight and Government Reform Committe, talked about how they could “do a better job going forward.”

“This evening, Chairman Issa telephoned me and apologized for his conduct, and I accepted his apology,” Cummings said in a statement.

“My sincere hope is that as we move forward, we will respect the opinions of all members of the committee, we will proceed in a deliberate and considered manner to obtain the facts, we will refrain from making accusations that have no basis in fact, and we will seek resolution rather than unnecessary conflict.”

The move came after the Congressional Black Caucus petitioned Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to strip Issa’s chairmanship for his behavior at Wednesday’s contentious IRS hearing. The House, however, failed to pass a resolution condemning Issa in a 211-186 vote.