Despite voting to hold Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in contempt of Congress, there’s little House Republicans can do in the short term to compel him to turn over documents — unless it wanted to revisit a long-dormant power and arrest him."Inherent contempt, is well-established by precedent, has been confirmed by multiple Supreme Court rulings, and is available to any Congress willing to force such a confrontation" - in other words, count on a dog & pony show from the Vichy RepublicansThe thought is shocking, and conjures up a Hollywood-ready standoff scene between House police and the FBI agents who protect the attorney general. It’s a dramatic and unlikely possibility not least because Congress doesn’t even have a jail any longer. But in theory it could happen.
Republicans say it’s not even under consideration, with House Speaker John A. Boehner’s spokesman flatly ruling it out.
But the process, known as inherent contempt, is well-established by precedent, has been confirmed by multiple Supreme Court rulings, and is available to any Congress willing to force such a confrontation.
“The House is scared to death to use the inherent contempt power,” said Mort Rosenberg, a fellow at the Constitution Project...
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jun/28/house-could-arrest-holder-with-inherent-contempt-p/
To my recollection, Holder has not re-appeared on Capitol Hill, even to testify before the Senate, since he has been charged with Contempt of Congress.
The problem is that what this administration is doing is simply unprecedented. Nobody ever anticipated an administration that would behave in such a lawless fashion. As a consequence, there is no established approach toward addressing the problem.
Nonetheless, one would like to think that a serious-minded patriotic Republican leadership would at least make threatening noises...