Immigration, Congressional subpoenas, Dick Cheney, and impeachment

by: Jay Stevens

Thu Jun 28, 2007 at 10:15:43 AM MST

Let's start with Bush's rejection of Congressional subpoenas for documents of former White House staff, Harriet Miers and Sara Taylor, as part of the investigation into the prosecutor purge, claiming "executive privilege." This came close on the heels of yesterday's announcement that VP Cheney, while acknowledging he was part of the executive branch, would still reject oversight on how his office handled classified information, because it's not an "agency." Next up: subpoenas to the White House and Cheney's office from the Senate Judiciary Committee concerning the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program. Expect more of the same stonewalling from Bush and Cheney.

The news of the rejection of Congressional subpoenas and the impending constitutional crisis comes at the time of newfound (and long overdue) scrutiny into Cheney's dealings embodied in the recent Washington Post four-part series revealing details of the Vice President's powerful and unprecedented position in the government.

The chattering classes have turned against Cheney.

Where I thought, mistakenly, that it would be a great advantage to Bush to have a White House partner without political succession in mind, it has turned out to be altogether too liberating an environment for a political entrepreneur of surpassing skill operating under an exceptional cloak of secrecy.

In an article on Slate, the "I" word was brought up for Cheney:

...the vice president is a unique legislative-executive creature standing above and beyond the Constitution. The House judiciary committee should commence an impeachment inquiry. As Alexander Hamilton advised in the Federalist Papers, an impeachable offense is a political crime against the nation. Cheney's multiple crimes against the Constitution clearly qualify.

What makes the article noteworthy is that it was written by former Reagan lawyer and self-identified conservative, Bruce Fein.

As Steve Benen rightfully says, "don't get your hopes up." The Democrats are busy with other issues, and "even if Dems went for Cheney impeachment, unless there are 67 votes in the Senate to remove the VP from office, Cheney isn't going anywhere." (Benen pins his hopes on Rep. Emmanuel's bid to defund the Vice President's office.)

Still, the political climate is ripe for a showdown with the White House. As Politico's Patrick O'Connor notes, the President faces a break with the party rank-and-file over immigration. Even though the immigration bill went down in flames today, the rancor still lingers between the President and his Republican allies and the party base:

"This immigration debate has become a war between the American people and their government," proclaimed Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), who led a small group of Republican senators who used every parliamentary maneuver they could find to stymie progress on the bill over the past month. "It transcends anything about immigration. It has become a crisis of confidence."

Of course, I'd add the entire Bush presidency has been a battle between government and the people. Iraq, corporate perks, attacks on the Constitution -- there was precious little policy over the past six years that actually benefited voters. The Bush faithful have gotten slapped around by their leader at the behest of his moneyed backers, and the sting will linger.

Barring further Bush offenses against his own supporters, impeachment is probably not going to happen with the number of blindly loyal Bush backers still embedded in the Senate. But what seems apparent -- as evidenced in bipartisan support in the Senate Judiciary Committee in its votes issuing subpoenas over wiretapping -- is that conservative patience is wearing thin, and might help extract aid in the ongoing investigations into the administration's wrongdoing.

One can hope, anyway.