Republicans Not Backing Down On Contempt Votes

Republicans Not Backing Down On Contempt Votes

By LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) â€" Barring a last-minute deal, House Republicans plan historic votes Thursday to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in civil and criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over documents related to a bungled gun-tracking operation.

A sitting attorney general never has been held in contempt, and Republicans picked an odd day to set a precedent. They scheduled the votes the same day the Supreme Court was deciding the legality of President Barack Obama's health care law.

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Passage of the contempt resolutions was not in doubt. Republicans control the House and are likely to pick up votes from Democrats who support the National Rifle Association. The NRA said it's keeping score on how members vote, partly because the gun owners' group believes the Obama administration wanted to use the program â€" called Operation Fast and Furious â€" to make the case for more gun control.

Democrats who normally support the NRA but vote against the contempt citations would lose their 100 percent ratings. That could affect their endorsements from the powerful organization, particularly if Republican opponents surface who are strong NRA backers.

Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., the longest serving House member and a staunch NRA supporter, said Wednesday he would not back the contempt resolutions but instead wants the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to conduct a more thorough investigation. Dingell has said he does not consider the contempt vote to be a gun control issue.

The 42-member Congressional Black Caucus said its members would walk out and refrain from voting.

"Contempt power should be used sparingly, carefully and only in the most egregious situations," a letter from the caucus to House members said. "The Republican leadership has articulated no legislative purpose for pursuing this course of action. For these reasons, we cannot and will not participate in a vote to hold the attorney general in contempt."

The criminal contempt resolution would send the matter to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, who is under Holder. The civil contempt resolution would allow the House to go to court in an effort to force Holder to turn over documents the oversight committee wants. In past cases, courts have been reluctant to settle disputes between the executive and legislative branches of government.

The House is unlikely to get the documents anytime soon, because Obama has invoked a broad form of executive privilege, which protects from disclosure internal documents from executive branch agencies.

Republicans want to focus on the economy and health care in an election year. They're hoping the diversion of holding the nation's chief law enforcement officer in contempt will not muddle their message.

Democrats have kept up steady criticism, accusing the GOP majority of trying to embarrass the administration and rushing to judgment rather than putting more effort into a compromise that could give Republicans the documents they want.

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Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the oversight committee, said a committee report recommending contempt had more than 100 mischaracterizations, omissions and errors. He said the dispute could be settled if House Speaker John Boehner became personally involved in negotiations.

In Operation Fast and Furious, agents of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Arizona abandoned the agency's usual practice of intercepting all weapons they believed to be illicitly purchased. Instead, the goal of the tactic known as "gun-walking" was to track such weapons to high-level arms traffickers who had eluded prosecution and to dismantle their networks.