Hill Probes Could Lead to 'Hand-to-Hand Combat'
President Bush's strategists say they are taking it one day at a time in dealing with the rising wave of congressional investigations and oversight hearings into administration policies.
"This administration has long tried to reach accommodations with Congress on the requirements for documents, information, and interviews," says a White House official. "And in most cases, we have been able to reach those accommodations." But that was when fellow Republicans controlled the House and Senate.
Now, majority Democrats are being much more aggressive in holding the administration to account, and that has West Wing insiders concerned. The insiders tell U.S. News that Congress has a legitimate oversight function but that the administration also needs to defend its "executive branch prerogatives''–a favorite theme of Vice President Cheney.
"We'll take it on a case-by-case basis," the White House official says. Another administration adviser argues that if the White House refuses to cooperate with the Democrats on too many issues, the result will be "hand-to-hand combat" for the remainder of the Bush presidency, causing hard feelings that would jeopardize Bush's agenda. At the same time, there is no appetite in the West Wing for rolling over in surrender, because administration insiders argue that the Democrats also don't want to escalate partisan warfare over secrecy and oversight.
advertisement
