La Follette, Taft, Gruening, and . . . William Jefferson
In recent years, those of us concerned with the erosion of congressional power have been looking for an intellectual leader in the legislature. Robert Byrd is the figure most frequently cast in this role--but the West Virginia senator is in many ways a poor choice: during the Vietnam War, Nixon officials referred to him as a"king's man," and he repeatedly sponsored amendments to weaken Congress' role in international affairs.
There is no longer any reason to despair: a brave new voice has emerged from the halls of Congress to champion the protection of legislative prerogatives vis-a-vis the executive. He is New Orleans congressman William Jefferson. Sure, some might know Jefferson for his unflattering recent news--such as attempting to enter New Orleans right after Katrina to remove unspecified material from his district office, being caught on an FBI videotape accepting a $100,000 bribe (in marked bills, while joking with a partner about"all these damn notes we're writing to each other as if . . . the FBI is watching"), then seeing law enforcement officials finding $90,000 of this money in his freezer (helpfully stored in aluminum foil), and apparently becoming the first sitting member of Congress to have his House office raided.
But in his press conference yesterday, Jefferson also revealed himself to be a theorist of congressional power. The search of his office, he declared,"represents an outrageous intrusion into separation of powers between the executive branch and the congressional branch, and no one has seen this in all the time of the life of the Congress."
Indeed, the congressman continued,"there's no real authority for it." Not only have his lawyers"expressed outrage" at this blatant violation of the separation of powers,"all of those who consider themselves scholars in the matter have also done so." Jefferson didn't reveal how he ascertained the opinions of"all of those who consider themselves scholars"; perhaps he did so between trips to his freezer. We haven't seen such a stirring defense of congressional prerogatives since former Philadelphia congressman Ozzie Myers performed on videotape during the Abscam scandal. Scholars can expect, undoubtedly, to continue to hear Jefferson expand on his theory of congressional power. Perhaps the federal government will consider Jefferson's thinking to be of such importance that it provides him with a federally-funded guarded residence--for, say, the next 8-10 years.
In all seriousness, there is something of a constitutional issue here--Newt Gingrich, among others, has claimed that the raid violated the Speech or Debate Clause, which provides immunity to Members and staff from all actions “within the legislative sphere." According to Doe v. McMillan,"The Speech or Debate Clause was designed to assure a co-equal branch of the government wide freedom of speech, debate, and deliberation without intimidation or threats from the Executive Branch. It thus protects Members against prosecutions that directly impinge upon or threaten the legislative process.” That said, it's hard to see how Jefferson's conduct can be considered covered under this clause--if carried to its logical extension, this new"Jeffersonian" theory of congressional power would suggest that congressmen should be free to engage in corruption, provided they simply hid all of the incriminating documents in their House or Senate offices.
Politically, the Democrats have badly mishandled this case. Nancy Pelosi should have publicly demanded that Jefferson resign. As things stand now, the Louisiana congressman is the GOP's best friend in the House.