After a Clintonesque selection process, the White House awaits conservative reaction to its choice of Michael Mukasey
Though Congress is on vacation, majority Democrats are keeping alive various fights with the White House with one common thread: Congress' access to administration documents and testimony to which President Bush has claimed executive privilege.
The White House has invoked executive privilege to keep President Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, from having to testify Thursday about the firings of at least eight U.S. attorneys.
The White House on Monday reiterated its claim of executive privilege in the firings of federal prosecutors, saying former aides would not comply with congressional subpoenas for their testimony.
Defending executive privilege
The House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday to cite two White House aides -- one current, one former -- for contempt of Congress, another step toward a constitutional showdown between the Democratic-controlled Congress and the Bush administration.
Snow: Citations 'pathetic'
President Bush on Thursday refused to comply with subpoenas sent by House and Senate committees requesting documents about the firing of several U.S. attorneys last year.
Kyle Sampson, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' former chief of staff, has agreed to testify under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, his lawyer said in a letter to the committee chairman Friday.
Key congressional committee chairmen sent letters Thursday formally rejecting a White House proposal specifying the conditions under which White House aides could be interviewed by Congress about the firings of eight U.S. attorneys.
President Bush on Tuesday reiterated his support for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in the midst of the scandal over whether the firings of at least seven U.S. attorneys were politically motivated.
The House Judiciary Committee will vote on whether to subpoena current and former White House officials over the firings of federal prosecutors, the panel's chairman said Friday.
Fred Fielding, a veteran Washington lawyer who served presidents Nixon and Reagan, is President Bush's choice to be White House counsel.
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