Anyone who believed that the Obama Justice Department would
operate independently has had their illusions shattered.
Department attorneys opined that the attempt to create a
congressman for Washington, D.C. was unconstitutional, but were
overruled by Attorney General Eric Holder.
Reports the Washington Post:
Justice Department lawyers concluded in an unpublished opinion
earlier this year that the historic D.C. voting rights bill
pending in Congress is unconstitutional, according to sources
briefed on the issue. But Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.,
who supports the measure, ordered up a second opinion from
other lawyers in his department and determined that the
legislation would pass muster.
A finding that the voting rights bill runs afoul of the
Constitution could complicate an upcoming House vote and make
the measure more vulnerable to a legal challenge that probably
would reach the Supreme Court if it is enacted. The bill, which
would give the District a vote in the House for the first time,
appeared to be on the verge of passing last month before
stalling when pro-gun legislators tried to attach an amendment
weakening city gun laws. Supporters say it could reach the
House floor in May.
In deciding that the measure is unconstitutional, lawyers in
the department's Office of Legal Counsel matched a conclusion
reached by their Bush administration counterparts nearly two
years ago, when a lawyer there testified that a similar bill
would not withstand legal attack.
Holder rejected the advice and sought the opinion of the
solicitor general's office, where lawyers told him that they
could defend the legislation if it were challenged after its
enactment.
What decision will the Attorney General next politicize?