The following tidbit from the NYT sparks some comment below: F.B.I. Raid Divides G.O.P. Lawmakers and White House
After years of quietly acceding to the Bush administration’s assertions of executive power, the Republican-led Congress hit a limit this weekend.
That’s the irony, isn’t it? That up and until now there has been little notice of the administration’s view of executive power, and now they are protesting–and protesting over something that they would appear to have a weak argument about at best.
Certainly the notion that they are grousing about the idea that they want protection from the FBI in bribery investigations, rather than exerting legislative prerogatives in areas like expansion of the NSA is, well, telling and disappointing–although ultimately not especially surprising.
One thing is for sure, the following would be most interesting:
Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the House majority leader, predicted that the separation-of-powers conflict would go to the Supreme Court. “I have to believe at the end of the day it is going to end up across the street,” Mr. Boehner told reporters gathered in his conference room, which looks out on the Capitol plaza and the court building.
The more I think about this, the more I can see no legitimate “speech and debate” argument that can apply here. I can’t imagine that that clause would be interpreted to create a zone of immunity from search over congressional offices, especially in the face of all the evidence that had already been assembled against Jefferson.
At best there might be an argument about the procedures used–although even there, it would seem that there could be seen to be a valid law enforcement reason to have a surprise search of the office in question.
And, in terms of pure political self-interest, there is this tidbit:
Republicans may have a potential self-interest beyond defending the institutional prerogatives of the legislative branch. With some of the party’s own lawmakers and aides under scrutiny in corruption inquiries tied to the lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the former lawmaker Randy Cunningham, Republicans would no doubt like to head off the possibility of embarrassing searches of their members’ offices.
And, unfortunately, this is no doubt the case:
There is no sign that Congressional Republicans’ discontent over this particular matter may spread into a more general challenge to the administration’s expansive view of executive authority.
I don’t want to see an investigation-o-rama, but there is little doubt (in my mind at least) that congressional Republicans have been far less concerned with checking and overseeing the powers of the President than they should have been. As such, they haven’t been doing their jobs and have made me wonder if divided government wouldn’t be a bad thing, despite the likely hearings-fest that would break out.
It is especially disappointing that the only time we have heard much of anything out the GOP leadership on this question is when they are engaging in a classic political CYA.
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May 24th, 2006 at 9:28 am
They only got a warrant after a subpeona was ignored… so it shouldn’t even have been a surprise.