Yesterday the House Judiciary Committee voted for contempt charges against Joshua Bolten, White House chief of staff, and former Bush counsel Harriet Miers. The Washington Post reports:
The vote represents the first concrete step toward finding Bolten and Miers in criminal contempt of Congress. The issue will next be considered by the entire House, and if a similar vote occurs there, the citations could be referred to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. But a floor vote appears unlikely before the end of next week, when the House recesses for a five-week summer break.
[…]
A Pelosi aide confirmed that a floor vote is unlikely until after Labor Day, giving Congress and White House counsel Fred F. Fielding another month and a half to negotiate a settlement of the legal standoff.
For a long time the White House has made it abundantly clear that it will risk a confrontation with Congress and a constitutional crisis. It hopes to avoid this inherent risk though, but not for the price of giving up on Cheney’s legal fantasies of a unitary executive. Instead, like with any Iraq retreat, the White House simply tries to run out the clock.
A confrontation is in Congress’ best interest. If this administration gets away with its assertion of unitary executive, and executive privilege, the next presidencies will build on those rights and Congress’ role will forever be diminished. Any short term gain in voters opinion in 2008 by holding back on a confrontation now is much smaller than a long term loss in congressional authority.
The White House will not cave in here. There is nothing left to negotiate. Pelosi has all rights and means to set the House agenda. The process following a House vote on contempt charges will already be slow and intentionally slowed down further when it hits the courts.
So why are Democrats delaying the process now? Bush wants to run out the clock. Don’t let him do so.
Why wait?