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Posted: 2017-02-10T04:08:15Z | Updated: 2017-02-10T15:34:00Z

WASHINGTON When Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, thought Hillary Clinton was going to be president, he could barely wait to start investigating.

Its a target-rich environment, he said in late October . Even before we get to Day One, weve got two years worth of material already lined up.

But now that its President Donald Trumps administration Chaffetz is charged with monitoring, hes willing to sit back and wait.

Give it a few days, for goodness sake! Chaffetz told The Huffington Post this week. All the flailing before he was even sworn in was a bit silly, if not purely immature.

Chaffetz a fresh-faced, calmly spoken 49-year-old who was a placekicker for Brigham Young University in the late 80s was one of President Barack Obamas most outspoken critics. He won the oversight committees chairmanship in late 2014 by promising aggressive investigations but also a more bipartisan approach than the deeply politicized style of his predecessor, Darrell Issa (R-Calif.).

Two years into his tenure as chairman, Chaffetz has proven he can work better with Democrats than Issa. But that is maybe the lowest standard of bipartisanship on Capitol Hill. And in the early stages of the Trump presidency, there are hardly any signs Chaffetz will work with Democrats to conduct any real oversight of Trump.

Everything Ive seen so far, doesnt sound like he feels there is much to investigate, the top Democrat on the oversight committee, Elijah Cummings of Maryland, told HuffPost this week.

Before, he was saying he was waiting for him to get sworn in, Cummings said. He got sworn in. Then he said he was willing to give him a chance to get his cabinet set. So well see.

If the committees organizational meeting in late January was any indication, dont expect much.

Democrats offered seven Trump-related amendments covering issues ranging from the Trump Hotel lease with the General Services Administration to legal restraints on the presidents ability to issue executive orders to the committees oversight plan. Chaffetz and Republicans on the committee adopted zero of them.

Democrats insist it is not normal to have foreign interference in a presidential election, that Trumps financial conflicts of interest are unprecedented, and that robust oversight is necessary when you have a president who seems intent on doing whatever he wants. They openly wonder how is it that the oversight committee has no current plans to investigate Trump.

Constituents are wondering too.

Chaffetz got thrashed Thursday night during a town hall meeting in his district. Voters quickly filled up a 1,000-person school auditorium, and police had to turn away more. The crowd went after him for traditional Republican positions like repealing Obamacare, but they also attacked him for not looking into Trumps more questionable conflicts of interest. They chanted Do your job! and ended the night by screaming Your last term!

After Chaffetz was such an aggressive watchdog of Obama, and after he looked poised to attack Clinton at every turn, Chaffetzs hands-off approach to Trump is smelling like hypocrisy. But thats not how Chaffetz sees it.

Hes days into his presidency, Chaffetz told HuffPost. I laid out an oversight plan that will lead to lots of investigations.