Later in the hearing, Republican Congress member Joe Barton apologized to Hayward for what he called the government’s “shakedown” of BP in demanding a $20 billion compensation fund for Gulf Coast residents affected by the spill.

Rep. Joe Barton: “I’m speaking now totally for myself. I’m not speaking for the Republican Party. I’m not speaking for anybody in the House of Representatives but myself. But I’m ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday. I think it is a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown. In this case, a $20 billion shakedown.”

According to the website Open Secrets, Barton has received nearly $1.5 million in donations from the oil and gas industry during his twenty-six years in office. Barton’s top career campaign donor, Anadarko Petroleum, has a 25 percent stake in the oil well where the explosion occurred. Democrats seized upon Barton’s comments as an illustration of Republican ties to the oil industry. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was among those to criticize Barton.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs: “I think Republicans are going to have to ask themselves whether Congressman Barton should be the ranking member of a committee that’s doing what it’s doing today, given the fact that he believes we owe an apology to BP rather than BP owing an apology to the Gulf.”

Barton later issued a statement apologizing for his apology to BP.