But the big story is that some Republicans on the Hill are already calling for Joe Barton’s head over his “apology” to BP:
Republicans, particularly Gulf state lawmakers, are furious at Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) and may ask him to cede his job as top Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee in the wake of his apology to BP Thursday.
“People are calling for his head,” said a GOP member of the committee.
Indeed, Rep. Jeff Miller, a Florida Republican, was the first in his party to call for Barton to resign as the ranking Republican on the committee after hearing Barton call the $20 billion cleanup fund a White House “shakedown.”
“I am shocked by Congressman Joe Barton’s reprehensible comments that the government should apologize for the ‘shakedown’ of BP,” Miller said. “BP has caused the greatest ecological and environmental disaster our nation has ever seen.
“I condemn Mr. Barton’s statement,” Miller said. “Mr. Barton’s remarks are out of touch with this tragedy and I feel his comments call into question his judgment and ability to serve in a leadership on the Energy and Commerce Committee. He should step down as Ranking Member of the Committee”
More info on the hearing at my OTN live-blog.
UPDATE: But others, including Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas) have come out in at least partial defense of Barton:
“I think it’s good that there’s going to be some money there,” Cornyn said to a handful of reporters. “But I think the part that Representative Barton is expressing some concern about, that I share the concern, is that this has become a political issue for the president and he’s trying to deal with it by showing how tough he’s being against BP.”
“The president’s kind of gone from commander-in-chief to claims adjuster-in-chief,” Cornyn said. “I just think the federal government finds itself in a crisis situation and finds itself embedding the federal government in what heretofore usually has been resolved by legal contracts and the requirements of the law.”
UPDATE II: Barton, just now: “I think BP is completely responsible. . .If anything I said this morning has been misconstrued. . . I want to apologize for this misconstruction.”