Emanuel said Pelosi and other top Democrats have not begun key consultations with lawmakers yet — and he was unsure when they would. Miers, Bolten contempt filings delayed

House Democratic leaders have decided to postpone a vote on a criminal contempt resolution against White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers for several weeks, and possibly longer, according to top lawmakers and aides.

The decision delays any constitutional showdown, at least for the moment, between Congress and President Bush over the extent of executive privilege and the president’s ability to fend off congressional investigations.


But the slowdown, approved by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her top lieutenants, is also stirring objections among Democrats.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) said he is uncomfortable with the delay and worries the House will be seen as toothless unless it moves quickly to hold top officials in contempt for failing to provide documents and testimony in congressional probes.

The House Judiciary Committee approved contempt citations against Bolten and Miers on July 25, after the two failed to comply with subpoenas as part of the committee’s investigation into the sacking of nine U.S. attorneys.

Bush declared that documents and testimony related to the scandal are covered by executive privilege, while Democrats argue that the White House must release the information or be in violation of the law.

The White House has instructed the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeffrey Taylor, not to enforce the contempt citations if approved by Congress.

That would force Democratic leaders to either go to court to enforce them or use the power of “inherent contempt” to hold congressional hearings on the matter, with the threat of imprisonment against noncompliant witnesses.

Democrats had vowed to take up the issue when Congress returned from its August break, with Democratic leaders declaring that any failure to do so would undermine the ability of Congress to conduct its constitutionally mandated oversight role.

“Congress will act to preserve and protect our criminal justice system and to ensure appropriate congressional oversight in all areas essential to the well-being of the American people,” Pelosi said back then.

But Pelosi decided to delay a vote until at least late September, and possibly into October. Democrats said they are not yet ready for such a vote because they have not briefed lawmakers on what it would mean and how the controversy would play out, both legally and politically.

“I don’t think anything is going to happen on that for a while,” said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (Ill.). “When you decide to do that, you have to make your best case. You want everyone to understand what’s happening and why.”

Emanuel said Pelosi and other top Democrats have not begun those consultations yet — and he was unsure when they would.

Conyers said it was critical for Congress to enforce its subpoenas against executive branch officials, including senior White House aides.

“Otherwise, we just become a [social] club,” Conyers said, adding that he would be reviewing the issue with Pelosi soon.

With the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Aug. 27, some of the urgency has gone out of the U.S. attorney probe, though both Conyers and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) have declared they will continue investigating.

Miers has been called to testify on her knowledge of the firings, while Bolten was subpoenaed as custodian of internal White House documents.

Leahy met with White House counsel Fred Fielding last week to discuss potential replacements for Gonzales, and Leahy reiterated that the White House must comply with congressional demands for documents and testimony on the U.S attorney firings, as well as the probe into the NSA’s wireless eavesdropping program and other issues.

Fielding has declined to make Miers, former White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove and other top Bush aides available to congressional investigators unless they appear behind closed doors, with no transcript kept and without any ability for lawmakers to subpoena them afterward.

House and Senate Democrats have rejected that offer, but only the House Judiciary panel has gone as far as to approve a contempt resolution.

Republican congressional leaders have dismissed the prosecutor probe as a politically motivated maneuver, designed to embarrass the White House.

But the Justice Department inspector general and the Office of Professional Responsibility have begun their own investigations into allegations of whether Gonzales or his senior aides lied to or misled congressional investigators or used political affiliation to screen applicants for career positions.