US President George W Bush has ordered close adviser Karl Rove not to testify before a Senate hearing on the sacking of eight federal prosecutors.
Mr Bush used the executive privilege he has as president to exempt Mr Rove from having to appear.
This is freaking unbelievable!!! Is there no shame? This is the true version of High Crimes & Misdemeanors!
August 1, 1876
Sitting as a court of impeachment, the Senate narrowly acquitted Secretary of War William Belknap, the only cabinet officer ever impeached by the House of Representatives. Belknap had served in President Ulysses Grant's cabinet for seven years when charges surfaced that he had accepted bribes tied to the appointment of a military trader in Oklahoma. As the House of Representatives considered these charges, Belknap, in tears, went to the president in March and resigned. Despite his resignation, the House acted unanimously and sent the impeachment to the Senate. The Senate initially agreed that it had jurisdiction over a former government officer, but many who ultimately voted against impeachment believed that Belknap's resignation moved him beyond the Senate's reach. | |
August 4, 1908
Iowa Republican William B. Allison died at age 79, ending a 35-year-and-5-month Senate career--the longest to that time. One of the most influential senators of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Allison chaired the Republican Conference from 1897 to 1908. He was the longest-serving committee chairman in Senate history, chairing the Appropriations Committee for all but two years between 1881 and 1908. He was also a member of the Finance Committee for 30 years. The major legislative issues of Allison's day--tariff reform, currency stabilization, and regulation--all bore his sharp imprint. Along with Nelson Aldrich, John Spooner and Orville Platt, Allison was a member of The Senate Four. | |
August 5, 1789
For the first time, the Senate refused to confirm a presidential appointee. Ignoring the budding concept of "senatorial courtesy," President George Washington nominated Benjamin Fishbourn to the post of Naval Officer for the Port of Savannah without clearing his choice with Georgia's two senators. Favoring another candidate who was a member of their political circle, the senators promptly engineered Fishbourn's rejection. Two days later, the president conveyed his irritation to the Senate. "Permit me to submit to your consideration whether on occasions where the propriety of Nominations appear questionable to you, it would not be expedient to communicate that circumstance to me, and thereby avail yourselves of the information which led me to make them, and which I would with pleasure lay before you." | |
August 6, 1971
The Senate and House of Representatives took their first mandatory 30-day summer recess as required by the 1970 Legislative Reorganization Act. Existing law had provided that Congress "shall adjourn sine die not later than July 31 of each year," unless the two houses provided otherwise. But the last time Congress had managed to complete its work at the end of July had been in 1956. On even-numbered years, Congress usually managed to adjourn by early October to accommodate members running for reelection, but in odd-numbered years it had become standard to work until December, with little time for members to plan for and enjoy family summer vacations. Although August recesses since 1971 have been abbreviated during election years, the 1970 act's recess provision has been carried out faithfully during odd-numbered years. |
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