dubai ports deal

Today's New York Times looks at the battle over the search of Jefferson's office and brings up some points that are interesting:

Speaker J. Dennis Hastert is moving publicly to put his constitutional showdown with the Justice Department in the past, but many on Capitol Hill believe that the bitter confrontation will resonate in the coming months.

Lawmakers and senior officials say Mr. Hastert's determined challenge to the Justice Department's court-authorized search of a Congressional office arose as much from frustration at missteps and slights by high-level administration officials as it did from outrage over what he saw as a gross violation of Congressional turf.

He and other Republicans were already upset at the Treasury Department for what they saw as the botched handling of the Dubai ports deal. And they held John D. Negroponte, the national intelligence director, responsible for what they considered the humiliating dismissal of Porter J. Goss, the popular former House member who was forced out as director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

The F.B.I. demand for access to the Rayburn House Office Building suite of Representative William J. Jefferson, a Louisiana Democrat under investigation in a corruption case, was seen as the last straw by Republican leaders worried about holding their majority in the House in the November elections, particularly with President Bush's flagging popularity.

"We are five months away from an election, and we can't afford to make high-profile mistakes," said one senior Republican official who was granted anonymity because he did not want to be identified discussing sensitive party strains. "There is a sense of tension in the air."

While the AP spent tonight reporting on the passing of the Patriot Act as a major victory for Republicans, the Washington Post was busy getting an article ready for tomorrow's print edition. That article talks about a House GOP effort to block the Dubai ports deal:

Efforts by the White House to hold off legislation challenging a Dubai-owned company's acquisition of operations at six major U.S. ports collapsed yesterday when House Republican leaders agreed to allow a vote next week that could kill the deal.

Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) will attach legislation to block the deal today to a must-pass emergency spending bill funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A House vote on the measure next week will set up a direct confrontation with President Bush, who sternly vowed to veto any bill delaying or stopping Dubai Ports World's purchase of London-based Peninsular & Oriental Steamship Co

Attaching this to the Iraq and Afghanistan funding bill is an excellent move. Bush vows to veto and legislation blocking the ports deal but will he do it when it also means vetoing the funding for his wars? This will definitely set the stage for a show down between the White House and both sides of the aisle in Congress on this very important issue.

Of course tomorrow can always bring something new and I can almost hear it now. They will try to spin this into being partisan politics that is to blame on the Democrats. Not sure how yet but they will find a way.