Congress to Pentagon: Can I Get a Witness?

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In a move criticized as a "blatant attempt to bog down investigations of the [Iraq] war," a Defense Department official has issued guidelines that "prohibit most officers below the rank of colonel from appearing in [Congressional] hearings, restricting testimony to high-ranking officers and civilians appointed by President Bush." The guidelines were written by Robert L. Wilkie, "a former Bush administration national security official who left the White House to become assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs." Shortly after Wilkie's guidelines were given to the House Armed Services Committee, "Defense Department lawyers sought to apply" them to three Army officers "set to testify about their first-hand experience training Iraqi security forces." Republican and Democratic Representatives rebuffed the attempt, and the officers "theatrically stormed out." While Congress seeks to clarify the guidelines' impact, others called them unprecedented and questionable. Law professor David Golove said, "Congress has the power to subpoena anyone in the United States who has information relevant to their proceedings."