IMPEACH BUSH

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit announced Thursday that a three-judge panel will hear arguments Sept. 16 in a subpoena battle between the Bush administration and the House Judiciary Committee.

The committee has subpoenaed White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers as part of its investigation into the firings of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006. Bolten was subpoenaed for records related to the dismissals. Both he and Miers declined to comply with the subpoenas after President Bush asserted executive privilege.

On July 31, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates ruled that Bolten could not simply refuse to hand over any White House documents related to the firings. He also ruled that Miers could not avoid physically appearing before the committee, although she could refuse to answer specific questions on executive privilege grounds.

The appeals court last week issued a temporary stay of the lower court's order while it considers the Justice Department's request for a longer stay. Both the Justice Department and congressional lawyers filed briefs this week.

The court's announcement setting a date for oral arguments came as the House Judiciary Committee postponed Miers' scheduled Thursday appearance, a move that was expected since Justice Department lawyers made clear Miers would not appear while the D.C. Circuit considered the stay request.

On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee put off action in another one of its ongoing legal battles with the Bush administration.

The committee postponed a vote on citing Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey for contempt for not complying with a months-old subpoena issued for documents relating to several investigations.

That delay came a day after the Justice Department handed over 681 pages of documents regarding one of the investigations and requested that the Judiciary Committee put off the vote.