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Washington: The House of Representatives has decided to hold two of President George W. Bush's confidants in contempt for failing to cooperate with an inquiry into whether a purge of federal prosecutors was motivated by politics.
Angry Republicans boycotted the vote and left the chamber on Thursday.
The vote was 223-32 to hold in contempt presidential chief of staff Josh Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers. The citations charge Miers with failing to testify and accuse her and Bolten of refusing Congress' demands for documents related to the 2006-2007 firings.
Republicans said Democrats should instead be working on extending a law, set to expire today, that would allow the government to eavesdrop on telephone calls and e-mails in the United States in cases of suspected terrorist activity.
"We have space on the calendar today for a politically charged fishing expedition, but no space for a Bill that would protect the American people from terrorists who want to kill us," said Representative John A. Boehner, leader of the Republican minority.
Clash
The vote, which Democrats had been threatening for months, was the latest wrinkle in a more than yearlong constitutional clash between Congress and the White House.
The administration says the information being sought is off-limits under executive privilege, and argues that Bolten and Miers are immune from prosecution.
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