Legal Experts Debate Congressional Authority Over Executive Power

By Learned Foote- Talk Radio News Service

Legal experts, former politicians, and a member of the Obama administration discussed the balance of powers in the U.S. government in a panel hosted by the Constitution Project and the Project on Government Oversight.

The conversation focused on the authority of Congress to obtain information from the executive branch in order to maintain oversight, an authority that some panelists argue has been compromised by the Bush and Obama administrations.

“Congress has been dealt a pretty good hand by the Founding Fathers,” said Morton Rosenberg, a legal expert on the separation of powers in government. “But of late, it’s been playing its cards very badly.” Rosenberg said he was “concerned about the state of Congress’ ability to engage in effective oversight…to ensure that its will is carried out.”

Former Congressman Mickey Edwards, a Republican from Oklahoma, emphasized that the American government puts power in the “hands of the people directly through their elected representatives.” He said that Congress has an “obligation” to exert authority over declarations of war, spending priorities, tax policy, and confirmations to the Supreme Court.

“If the Congress does not do everything in its power to get the information it needs to act on behalf of the American people, it has abdicated its responsibility, and it has been guilty in my view of malfeasance.”

Rosenberg described the mechanisms by which Congress exercises authority over the executive branch, including the threat of subpoena. He said that over the past decade, the efficacy of these mechanisms has declined, citing a case where the House of Representatives voted to hold two aides to George W. Bush, Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten in contempt.

Rosenberg also criticized the Obama administration, which he said has “not evidenced any substantial change in the executive’s attitude toward Congressional access to information.” He mentioned that Obama has upheld the “controversial Bush II practice of pin-pointing provisions of law that he was signing into law as being unconstitutional or suspect, and he would decide whether or not…to obey them.”

Ron Weich, the Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs in the Obama administration, said that the current executive branch agrees that Congressional oversight is important, and emphasized that President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden, along with many other members of the Obama administration, have served in Congress.

Nonetheless, he argued that the Constitution establishes “a healthy push-and-pull among the branches.”

Regarding the release of information to Congress, Weich said that there are “limits on what we [the executive branch] can provide, and these are embodied in long-standing principles.”