Bush denies info request in EPA case

WASHINGTON — Setting up a constitutional showdown, the White House on Friday asserted executive privilege in denying a congressional request for thousands of pages of documents related to the federal government's rejection of California's efforts to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions.

Congress is attempting to determine whether President Bush played a role in the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to deny California's request for permission to impose tougher air-quality regulations than federal law called for.

California had been granted such waivers numerous times over the years, but the Bush administration delayed and then rejected its request for authority to regulate carbon-dioxide emissions.

"I don't think we've had a situation like this since Richard Nixon was president," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which is conducting the investigation.

An EPA official, Jason Burnett, has told committee investigators that EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson had favored granting the waiver but denied it after meeting with White House officials. In testimony last month, Johnson refused to say whether he'd discussed the waiver request with Bush.

Waxman canceled a contempt vote that had been scheduled for Friday morning against Johnson and White House official Susan Dudley after the White House informed him of its last-minute decision. Waxman said the two had refused to cooperate with his panel.

Jeffrey Rosen, general counsel to the president, said the White House already had turned over 7,558 pages of documents to the committee. He urged Waxman not to proceed with a contempt resolution.

Executive privilege, while not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, is grounded in the doctrine of separation of powers and is sometimes invoked to keep executive branch deliberations private.

President Bush has also asserted executive privilege to keep his chief of staff, Josh Bolten, and former White House counsel Harriet Miers from having to provide information to Congress about firing a group of U.S. attorneys in what Democrats consider a political purge.

Waxman was critical of the White House's decision. "There are thousands of internal White House documents that would show whether the president and his staff acted lawfully," Waxman said. "But the president has said they must be kept from Congress and the public." Waxman said the committee would investigate the matter further before deciding how to proceed.

For months, Waxman's committee has been investigating the EPA's decision to block California from regulating greenhouse-gas emissions for cars and trucks. The waiver had become a battleground over the administration's hesitation to enact policies aimed at slowing global warming.

Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.