Executive Privilege
After Vietnam and Watergate, the issue of executive privilege had not registered much of a blip on the radar. However, the recent Enron scandal has allowed Congress to question the validity of the executive privilege argument. In January 2002, Comptroller General David Walker, head of the non-partisan Government Accounting Office, announced that he would sue Vice President Dick Cheney in order to obtain information about the National Energy Policy Development Group that Cheney chaired last year. Walter contended that the unprecedented lawsuit was made necessary by Cheney's refusal to cooperate voluntarily.
President George W. Bush has not claimed an "executive privilege" in connection with the GAO's information requests. However, it is likely that the Administration will assert such a privilege as the case proceeds. Certainly that is the tenor of public statements by the Vice President and the White House. According to the Administration, GAO is an arm of Congress and accordingly, its efforts to uncover the inner workings of the Executive Branch violate the constitutional principle of separation of powers.
This paper analyzes and examines the multitude of issues related to the executive branch of government at the federal level. Part II examines the definition and applicability of executive privilege as seen by both the executive and legislative branches. In Part III, past and present controversial use of executive privilege in cases such as Enron and Watergate are outlined. Lastly, this paper concludes with recommendations for improving the use of executive privilege.
II. DEFINITION AND APPLICABILITY OF EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE
Executive privilege is a concept that gives the chief executive, i.e., the president, of the United States the right to act outside of normal channels and even outside of (though not above) the law. The United States Constitution does not explicitly mentions executive privilege. However, presidents have long claimed that the constitutional principle of separation of powers implies that the Executive Branch has a privilege to resist certain encroachments by Congress and the judiciary, including some requests for information.
In 1796, President George Washington refused to comply with a request by the House of Representatives for documents relating to the negotiation of the then-recently adopted Jay Treaty with England. (Dorf). According to Washington, the Senate alone plays a role in the ratification of...
R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman and Attorney General Richard Kleindienst. In his speech, President Nixon said of the Watergate break-in that he was "appalled... and... shocked to learn that employees of the Re-Election Committee were apparently among those guilty." He then claimed that "there had been an effort to conceal the facts both from the public, from you, and from me." In his speech he said though he had been told
(Ripley 2002) There is also an increasing presence of Middle Eastern expats within the metropolitan Detroit and its suburbs. Bush genuinely, believed, according to his supporters that ideologically driven Islamic youth might perform terrorist's acts from within despite any efforts by the Transportation Safety Authorities to ensure that no terrorists came into the country from without. This gave rise to the first critic of President Bush, invoking the American Defense Act
The blame game began almost immediately, and President Bush, together with many among the American people, looked for scapegoats. Iraq - a Muslim nation weakened by war and economic sanctions - would prove an easy target of American wrath in this new era of suspicion and fear. The belief had arisen that, if the rules governing intelligence had been different, 9/11 might have been prevented. A frequent target of
Congress Role in War Making War has become a part of the human world. When we understand the events from the past to the present, for the purpose of dealing with conflicts, human beings have been pampered with weapons. Even though war has become an element of human custom, it has always been seen that efforts have always been made to control the outcome of war and the techniques employed in
It would therefore be a policy to be shaped by the powerful oversight of the federal executive that would serve to dominate the process. In the years following his supposition, however, many detractors have cited that the role which the public, the executive and Congress play in shaping the priorities of a spending bill will tend to levy political implications over the process. As a result, such hard and fast
Multigenerational Workforce Motivation Leadership Style Talent management and human resource management personnel have, been aware of the commercial value of creating and leveraging an all-encompassing, diverse workforce for several years. Recruitment and employee retention programs have focused on gender, ethnicity, race, recruitment and career development of veterans, disabled persons, etc. One can observe increased demands among corporate personnel, to include multigenerational diversity in their organizations. Talent and human resource managers have
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now