By Kathleen Hunter, CQ Staff

House leaders will launch an independent probe of the House page program, following the resignations of two Republican board members.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader John A. Boehner agreed Wednesday to direct the House inspector general to investigate allegations of mismanagement made by the two Republicans who last week resigned their seats on the eight-member board that oversees the page program.

“We expect the inspector general to gather the facts and recommend the appropriate and necessary corrective actions to be taken by the House,” Pelosi, D-Calif., and Boehner, R-Ohio, said in a joint statement.

The two said they plan to select an “independent entity” to weigh the long-term future of the page program and to examine its “organization and operation.” Staff aides declined to describe the nature of the “independent entity.”

Renewed Scrutiny

Republican Reps. Ginny Brown-Waite of Florida and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia ­sparked a second round of scrutiny of the page program in as many years when they resigned their seats on the Page Board Dec. 6, complaining that the teenage participants in the program weren’t adequately supervised and that board members were not notified promptly of problems.

Two pages were dismissed last week after an incident involving sexual activity in a page dorm elevator, according to congressional aides.

Brown-Waite has complained that she was not immediately informed when two other pages were dismissed last month after they were accused of shoplifting at the Pentagon City Mall.

Brown-Waite, who has suggested transferring oversight of the page program to the House Sergeant at Arms’ office, applauded the independent investigation, saying it “goes a long way toward ensuring the pages have the supervision necessary.”

Before the resignations, the Page Board had already directed the Sergeant at Arms to install cameras in certain areas inside the page dorm, including the elevators.

Clerk of the House Lorraine C. Miller, a Pelosi appointee, has maintained that board members do receive frequent updates on the pages and are immediately notified of any rules infractions.

In response to the resignations, Pelosi ordered the board on Dec. 7 to conduct an internal probe into whether proper adult oversight exists at the residence halls for the 72 pages who serve in the House. But Republicans insisted on a broader review.

Looking Ahead

Boehner, meanwhile, has not said when he plans to fill the two vacancies on the board. “Common sense dictates that you stop and solve the problem before going ahead and adding more members to a board that doesn’t work,” said Boehner spokesman Brian Kennedy.

Chris Mansour, chief of staff to Page Board Chairman Dale E. Kildee , D-Mich., declined to comment Wednesday on when the board might meet again or how the initial security probe Pelosi ordered last week is progressing.

The Page Board was enlarged this year in response to the scandal centered on former Florida Republican Mark Foley’s (1995-2006) contacts with former pages.