Miller Introduces Legislation to Fight Executive Abuses of Power; Brennan Center for Justice Supports the Bill

Washington D.C. – Congressman Brad Miller (NC-13) introduced today The Checks and Balances Restoration and Revitalization Act, a measure that would substantially rein in executive power and reaffirm Congress as a co-equal branch of government.

"After an eight year assault on Congress and the courts, we need to restore the balance that our nation’s founders intended," said Rep. Miller. "Our constitution created a system of checks and balances to prevent dangerous concentrations of power."

Miller’s Checks and Balances Act comes after the disquieting revelation that former Vice President Dick Cheney decided to keep Congress in the dark about a CIA program targeting al Qaeda members for assassination. The former administration’s aggressive expansion of executive power touched on a host of domestic and foreign policies including surveillance practices, climate change and energy policy, and politicized criminal prosecutions.

"Recent years have seen unprecedented expansion of executive power, often at the expense of the Congress," says Emily Berman, an attorney at the Brennan Center for Justice and author of Executive Privilege: A Legislative Remedy.

"The Checks & Balances Restoration and Revitalization Act is an important step in Congress's ongoing efforts to reclaim the proper balance of power, in which it can effectively carry out its constitutional obligations of conducting oversight and crafting legislation," Berman continued.

The Act would give Congress new tools to

    * challenge overly broad assertions of executive privilege;
    * enforce congressional subpoenas;
    * check any use of presidential signing statements to disregard duly enacted laws;
    * overcome executive branch's refusal to disclose legal opinions that give impunity to executive branch officials for conduct that otherwise violate the law.

Checks and Balances will ensure that Congress will have access to the information it needs to perform its constitutional duties.  It also confirms the power of Congress to challenge a claim of executive privilege in court when the executive refuses to provide information.  When the President issues a "signing statement" that he may disregard or decline to enforce a duly enacted law, the Act allows Congress to bring a lawsuit to compel the President to enforce the law.

"The Obama Administration has not made the extravagant claims of presidential power that the Bush Administration made, but President Obama should put temptation behind him and support this bill," Miller said.

The bill was introduced in the House today. Rep. John Conyers, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is an original co-sponsor.