Congress passed H.R. 985, which enhances protection of whistleblowers, by a vote of 391-94, but Bush is threatening a veto on the argument that the bill is unconstitutional and a threat to national security. The White House Statement of Administration Policy that threatens the veto does not specify the basis for its claim of unconstitutionality. But it is clear what the White House dislikes about this bill. This is, first, an administration that believes it is the primary branch of government, not one of three equal branches. It believes that it can lie about the bases for any decision that it wants to take, such as reasons for going to war or firing attorneys general because of their refusal to persecute the administration's political enemies or lay off its political allies.
The White House complains that "By vesting subordinate Executive branch officials with a right to disclose classified information outside of the Executive branch without receiving official authorization from the President or his official designee, the bill would impede the President’s necessary coordination function." In other words, the President is only concerned about disclosures outside the executive branch -- and the only provision for making disclosures outside the executive branch is the provision allowing disclosure to authorized members of Congress. (The bill only allows such disclosures to be made to authorized members of Congress, the IG of the whistleblower's agency, or an authorized official at the DOJ.) Authorized members of Congress include only specific individuals, such as those on the House or Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, also those on committees dealing with homeland security, government oversight, and oversight of the agency in question. Is the president really serious that we can't trust our representatives to protect national security? After all, it's not anyone in Congress who outed a covert intelligence agent.
The last time Bush showed any iterest in the rule of law was upon the handing down of Bush v. Gore. He's lied at every turn, repeatedly evidenced his disdain for the law in his signing statements and his contempt for the Constitution by consistently violating the civil liberties it is supposed to protect. Even a majority of the Republicans in the House voted in favor of this bill, apparently recognizing that the time is well past due for some oversight.
Comments