Waxman postpones contempt vote

A House committee postponed a vote on whether to hold two top administration officials in contempt for refusing to release internal administration documents after the White House claimed the requested documents were protected by executive privilege.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has been investigating whether the White House influenced decisions by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to a proposed tailpipe emission standard in California and a new federal rule on allowable ozone levels.

Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) believes the White House intervened and directed EPA to deny California and other states from implementing their own tailpipe emissions standards and to relax a tougher ozone standard that had been recommended by a panel of science advisors to EPA.

Waxman had threatened to vote to hold EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson and Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Administrator Susan Dudley in contempt for refusing to release documents relating to communications between their offices and White House officials.

Waxman’s committee has been investigating the decisions for months, and had gathered information that he said showed inappropriate White House interference.
But he said his committee was seeking documents that explained why the White House intervened.

Waxman called the assertion of executive privilege, “an extraordinary step.”

“I want to talk with my colleagues on both sides about this new development and consider all our options before deciding how we should proceed,” Waxman said in a statement.