…On Friday just hours after the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Maryland’s Rep. Elijah Cummings, called for a subpoena of the Republican governor of Michigan responsible for appointing the emergency manager who had switched Flint’s water supply, Chaffetz announced he was ending the congressional investigation. Chaffetz said he had concluded that “a series of failures at all levels of government caused, and then exacerbated, the water crisis.”

…Arguing that “the federal regulatory framework is so outdated that it sets up states to fail,” Chaffetz called for EPA funds designated for use for studying and combatting climate change be redirected to water pipe improvement projects across the nation. Chaffetz also called for removing the requirement that federally funded drinking-water construction projects pay prevailing wages under the Davis Bacon Act.

…Democrats, however, have pushed back on the Committee’s rushed assessment, criticizing Chaffetz’s sudden lack of interest in thorough investigations. (Under Chaffetz’ chairmanship, the Republican-led House Oversight Committee has chased the Planned Parenthood hoax, sought to impeach the IRS commissioner over the agency’s scrutiny of Tea Party-affiliated groups that sought tax-exempt status and vowed to continue investigating Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server even after the election.)

Cummings refused to sign Chaffetz’s letters closing the Flint investigation and a spokeswoman for the committee’s Democratic staff noted that Gov. Synder  had “defied” requests to provide documents for the investigation.