"National Journal's" Alexis Simendinger has an article (sub. req.) on the change in White House Counsel in the Bush administration. Coming in--well, already in--is old hand Fred Fielding, who served in the Nixon and the Reagan White House, as well as served on the transition teams for both Bush administrations. Why is Fielding brought on board? To guide the Bush administration through the tricky waters of divided government, but more importantly, insure and protect presidential prerogatives:
We have our constitutional prerogatives, which it is my responsibility to help protect. [The Congress] has their constitutional prerogatives as well, and I want to find a middle ground, if we can.
Fielding was brought on board specifically to help the administration work with an opposition Congress since it is clear that the approach of the first term--my way or the highway--would leave President Bush with Zero gains in terms of a legacy once he leaves office (as if anything in the second term will define his legacy). And he has his work cut out for him.
Currently, there is a no-confidence vote before the Senate over Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has dealt the Bush administration's strategy in the War on Terror another blow, deciding that the administration may not hold indefinitely a resident of the United States. This is a striking opinion given where it occurred--not the "liberal" Ninth Circuit, but the "very conservative" Fourth Circuit. I highly recommend reading the opinion for yourself (.pdf required).
And finally subpoenas are up over any time in the last six years. The Bush administration is up against something that it hasn't yet experienced--an energized Congress that is doggedly pursuing information about what the Executive Branch is doing. While Bush has complained that it is all politics--which it certainly is--it is also Congress behaving the way it was intended to behave. In fact, if Bush wishes to make a plausible advance of the unitary executive, then he desperately needs a Congress that is zealous in its oversight of his policies.
