Senate GOP, Bush officials playing policy tug-of-war

[struggle4progress]

Posted on Sun, Jan. 29, 2006
By JAMES KUHNHENN
KNIGHT RIDDER WASHINGTON BUREAU

After years of deferring to the Bush White House, the Republican-controlled Senate has begun pushing back, holding oversight hearings on topics ranging from President Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina to his administration's mine-safety record and secret domestic-surveillance program ...

An administration mine-safety official walked out of a Senate hearing last week, angering its powerful Republican chairman. The White House refused to give another committee documents it sought about Katrina. The administration is trying to dismiss critics of its eavesdropping program as clueless partisans, though many of them are Republicans ...

.. with congressional elections in November, Republicans aren't as concerned about advancing the president's agenda as they are in advancing themselves ...

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/thesunherald/news/world/13739911.htm

[joemurphy]

1. Say hello to the "unitary executive" Senator Specter n/t