Waxman threatens two officials with contempt citations

Getting nowhere with subpoenas, Rep. Henry A. Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, is upping the ante against two senior Bush administration officials. He is threatening to have them cited for contempt of Congress.

Waxman, a Beverly Hills Democrat, is seeking documents from Stephen L. Johnson, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and Susan E. Dudley, the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the White House budget office.

His focus: information for his investigation into whether Johnson's refusal to let California implement a tailpipe emissions law was based on politics rather than on science and law.

Waxman says that Johnson was getting ready to join the EPA staff  in supporting California's bid to regulate greenhouse gas emissions in vehicles until he consulted with the White House. Waxman said last month: "It appears that the White House played a significant role in the reversal of the EPA decision."

The chairman's latest move to force Johnson and Dudley to deliver documents to the committee came this afternoon, when he sent a letter to each telling them his committee would meet next Friday to consider a resolution citing them for contempt.

"I strongly urge you to comply with the duly issued subpoenas," he wrote.

Pressure? Yes. But not necessarily effective. Former White House political chief Karl Rove, and Josh Bolten, President Bush's White House chief of staff, are both facing contempt citations in connection with the congressional investigation into the firing of U.S. attorneys. They are still out on the streets.

--James Gerstenzang

Photo: Stephen L. Johnson. Credit: Koji Sasahara/Pool