The House Judiciary Committee Monday went to court to enforce its contempt citations against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers, arguing that the Bush administration has no right to block them from testifying about the firing of U.S. attorneys.

Lawyers for the committee said they hope to have the matter resolved by the fall, but there’s no guarantee that will happen, and the court’s decision can be appealed.

“There has to be a way for Congress to get resolution on its subpoenas,” said Stan Brand, a former House general counsel who spoke by telephone at a briefing put on by the Judiciary Committee.
White House Press Secretary Dana Perino called the lawsuit “partisan theater.”

“The confidentiality that the president receives from his senior advisers and the constitutional principle of separation of powers must be protected from overreaching, and we are confident that the courts will agree with us,” Perino said during Monday’s White House briefing.

But House officials say the dispute isn’t about advice given to the president because the White House has maintained that Bush himself wasn’t involved in the U.S. attorney firings.

Former Rep. Mickey Edwards (R-Okla.), who served in the lower chamber from 1977-1993, called it an “embarrassment” that his party is not standing up for the right of Congress to subpoena executive branch witnesses.

“In the past this was something very important to Republicans,” Edwards said at the Judiciary Committee briefing. “As conservatives, we used to talk about ‘strict construction’ and ‘upholding the Constitution.’ ”

The 36-page lawsuit was filed against Bolten and Miers themselves in the U.S. District Court in Washington. Miers, under orders from the White House, refused to appear before the committee to answer questions about the firing of nine U.S. attorneys. Bolten refused to provide records.