La Belle Soeur Jean sends along an item of interest.
House Democrats are testing the seldom-used seven-member rule to get information about lobbyists’ influence on the Bush administration’s health and energy policy.
The tactic sets the stage for a showdown and the first-ever test of a court ruling on the statute.
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and other members of the House Government Reform Committee have demanded to see all communications between Bush administration officials and industry lobbyists or other interest groups about the energy bill that fell apart in the Senate last fall.
The committee Democrats have also asked the Department of Health and Human Services for similar information.
The requests could be the first test of the seven-member rule (5 USC Section 2954) since it was upheld by a federal court in 2002. The rule compels the executive branch to hand over information if seven or more members of the committee request it. The rule was drafted when the committee was half its current size, and a request by seven members would have meant near unanimity on the minority side.
... There has been only one judicial review of the seven-member rule, when a California district court upheld it in 2002...."Fortunately, the court held that the executive branch has to comply with seven-member [rule] requests – regardless of which party is in the White House."
.. In 1994, [House leader Dennis] Hastert was among a group of Republicans that invoked the rule to get information on Whitewater from the Clinton administration, which complied without argument. The Hill article
Okay, this is a little tangential, but.....
We are just rule-making creatures, aren't we? I mean, really. It all starts when you're a kid, doesn't it? Little clubs with rules to be a member. You didn't do that? Oh come on.
Okay, I'm not particularly fond of the idea of anarchy. But, at this point, look around the world. How different would that be?
One thing for certain, the White House legal staff is earning its pay these days. Strike that. The White House legal staff is busy these days.
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
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