Congress pushing back against Bush's expansion of presidential authority
By Susan Page
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Republican and Democratic House leaders join forces to protest the FBI search of a congressman's office. The Senate Intelligence Committee demands fuller briefings from the CIA. The Supreme Court hears a landmark case challenging presidential war powers.
After five years of a concerted White House campaign, there are tentative signs that Congress and the courts are beginning to push back against what has been the greatest expansion of presidential powers in a generation or more.
Those pushing back include some congressional Republicans and conservative jurists who have been among President Bush's chief allies. The efforts surely would intensify if Democrats won control of the House or Senate in November's elections — and with it the power to convene hearings and issue subpoenas.
“You ask, ‘Is the tide shifting?' and I say, ‘Maybe, maybe,' ” says Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who has pushed for stronger congressional oversight of intelligence operations. “If you ask me if I still feel like a lonely voice, I would say that I feel like a member of a small chorus.”
Some examples:
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20060606/1a_cover06.art.htmI don’t agree with it’s premis, that Congress and the courts may be finally reaching the end of their patience with Bushco overreaching. However, it has a good analysis of how this power grab lines up with prior administrations (Nixon, Wilson, etc) and almost draws what I believe is the direct line from Nixon, to Iran Contra, to Buscho. (Comment #40)
http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/06/06/compassion-and-much-needed-hope/