"Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said he would pursue contempt charges against Greer for ignoring Congressional subpoenas."
"I like DeLay's response better. However, I'm not holding my breath."
Good idea. Not that he's the ultimate authority but Waxman wrote....
"These subpoenas are unenforceable. A committee subpoena must be used to gather information. But these subpoenas are dictating the medical care that Ms. Schiavo receives. Congress has no authority to use subpoenas to tell doctors what treatment they can and cannot provide to any individual under their care."
"These subpoenas were issued unilaterally by Tom Davis, acting at the request of the Republican leadership. There was no vote and no opportunity to debate the issue in committee. The process was a perversion of democracy."
Trying to find out how they were created is next to impossible, but Waxman many correct.
House rules -
"However,in clause 2(m) of rule XI the House has authorized any committee or subcommittee to issue a subpoena when authorized by a majority of the members of the committee or subcommittee voting, a majority being
present.
There are several requirements and they committee may not have complied.
http://www.gpo.gov/congress/house/hd106-320/text/hrm18.html
Lastly, in order to be held in "contempt of congress" there must be bi-partisan support and a grand jury has to support an indictment.
Not likely to happen IMO. The Republicans spent a great deal of political muscle for naught.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contempt_of_CongressThe Republicans spent a great deal of political muscle for naught.I agree with that statement. And I never thought I would live to see the day I agreed with anything Waxman would say. But he is correct in this instance. I wish that Congress and the President would have stayed out of this mess entirely. Fortunately, they finally saw their limitations and pulled back. But not without leaving a confused constituency.