Congressional Black Caucus plans Walk Out during vote
Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. President Obamas spokesman urged House Republicans Wednesday to cancel a planned vote to hold Attorney General Eric H. Holder in contempt of Congress saying most Americans dont care about the separation-of-powers struggle. But House Speaker John Boehner said unequivocally this morning that
the House would vote tomorrow on whether to hold Holder in contempt of Congress for the first time ever or not.
That the Speaker declared is because the Obama administration is not willing to show the American people the truth about what happened."
A pair of last-ditch meetings between the Obama Administration and House Republicans failed to avert a scheduled contempt vote for Attorney General Eric Holder over the Fast & Furious documents dispute.
Republicans met with administration officials twice Tuesday -- at the Justice Department and at the White House. The Justice Department showed GOP staff 14 documents on the failed anti-gunrunning operation totaling about 30 pages.
There looks to be no turning back on the symbolic swipe at Eric Holder for three reasons:
First Republicans would have no face-saving rationale for backing down because there was nothing close to a compromise reached during a rare meeting at the White House yesterday among Darrell Issas staff Boehners staff and senior administration officials where everyone was
looking for agreement on which additional pieces of the Fast & Furious paper trial might be released despite the presidents executive-privilege claim.
Second staging the debate tomorrow allows the GOP to have the best of two worlds going through with a vote that delights its political base at a time when the rest of the country will be preoccupied instead with the Supreme Courts health care decision.
Third and maybe most importantly the NRA is insisting on the vote and promising to make the roll call part of its annual gun rights congressional scorecard.
We hope Republicans change their minds as to what the right course of action is" said White House press secretary Jay Carney adding that lawmakers should be focused instead on boosting the economy. I cannot imagine this will sit well with most Americans."
House Oversight Committee Chairman and Republican Rep. Darrell Issa wants internal communications from February 2011 when the administration denied knowledge of gun-walking to the end of that year when officials acknowledged the denial was erroneous.
But Carney said the White House is under no illusions about the Republicans plans and administration officials expect the House vote against Mr. Holder to proceed.
