Power Grab

During the presidency of George W. Bush, the White House has made an unprecedented reach for power. It has systematically attempted to defy, control, or threaten the institutions that could challenge it: Congress, the courts, and the press. It has attempted to upset the balance of power among the three branches of government provided for in the Constitution; but its most aggressive and consistent assaults have been against the legislative branch: Bush has time and again said that he feels free to carry out a law as he sees fit, not as Congress wrote it. Through secrecy and contemptuous treatment of Congress, the Bush White House has made the executive branch less accountable than at any time in modern American history. And because of the complaisance of Congress, it has largely succeeded in its efforts.

This power grab has received little attention because it has been carried out largely in obscurity. The press took little notice until Bush, on January 5 of this year, after signing a bill containing the McCain amendment, which placed prohibitions on torture, quietly filed a separate pronouncement, a "signing statement," that he would interpret the bill as he wished. In fact Bush had been issuing such signing statements since the outset of his administration. The Constitution distinguishes between the power of the Congress and that of the president by stating that Congress shall "make all laws" and the president shall "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." Bush claims the power to execute the laws as he interprets them, ignoring congressional intent.

Grover Norquist, a principal organizer of the conservative movement wh is close to the Bush White House and usually supports its policies, says, "I you interpret the Constitution's saying that the president is commander i chief to mean that the president can do anything he wants and can ignor the laws you don't have a constitution: you have a king." He adds, "They're not trying to change the law; they're saying that they're above the law an in the case of the NSA wiretaps they break it." A few members of Congres recognize the implications of what Bush is doing and are willing to spea openly about it. Dianne Feinstein, Democratic senator from California, talk of a "very broad effort" being made "to increase the power of the executive. Chuck Hagel, Republican senator from Nebraska, says

There's a very clear pattern of aggressively asserting executive power, and the Congress has essentially been complicit in letting him do it. The key is that Bush has a Republican Congress; of course if it was a Clinton presidency we'd be holding hearings.

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USATODAY.com - Congress, courts push back against Bush's assertions of presidential power

usatoday.com

Tue Jun 6

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