Fresh in the wake of ongoing furor regarding the Bush administration’s use of warrantless wiretaps on U.S. civilians, the White House has again asserted its vision of broad powers for the executive branch – powers we find alarming.
The administration said Tuesday that it wasn’t planning to reveal some documents about Hurricane Katrina or allow senior White House officials to testify before Congressional committees investigating the government’s response, according to an article in The New York Times on Tuesday.
Trent Duffy, White House spokesman, said the White House is “cooperating” with Congress, according to the article. Yet he also claimed executive privilege, saying “we have also maintained the president’s ability to get advice and have conversations with his top advisers that remain confidential.”
Senators and representatives blasted the administration, with Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., saying “the Bush administration is stonewalling the Congress,” according to the article.
Although not mandated by the U.S. Constitution, executive privilege has been acknowledged by the U.S. Supreme Court in some instances according to the clause elaborating separation of powers. Theoretically, this would allow the president to communicate candidly with his top advisers on matters of national security.
The administration tried to claim this privilege when the Congressional committee investigating Sept. 11 asked Condoleezza Rice to testify. The administration eventually gave in.
The concept of executive privilege has merit in cases when national security is on the line, such as Rice’s testimony about Sept. 11. But the only national security threat posed by withholding information about Katrina is that a similar governmental breakdown will happen the next time massive hurricanes pound our coasts.
Saving face should not be a legitimate excuse to withhold information from Congress and, more importantly, from the American people. The Bush administration has continually tried to bully its way through potentially negative publicity, and the current stonewall may be merely an attempt to throw Congressional committees off the scent of the federal government’s disastrous handling of the Katrina aftermath.
If this isn’t merely a skirmish, we hope our representatives will lobby their peers in both houses to push for subpoenas on this matter. If the White House doesn’t respond to subpoenas, we hope the U.S. Supreme Court will eventually hear this case and give us a more definitive ruling on when executive privilege can be used.