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  Congress begins to say 'no' to White House
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ContributorArmyDem 
Last EditedArmyDem  Aug 01, 2003 12:46am
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MediaNewspaper - Christian Science Monitor
News DateFriday, August 1, 2003 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0
DescriptionHouse and Senate assert independence on issues ranging from media to surveillance.

By Gail Russell Chaddock | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

WASHINGTON – The Congress that has signed off on more than $1 trillion in new tax cuts - and sat on the sidelines as the commander in chief took a nation to war - is finding its voice. And, lately, that voice has been saying, "No."

From planning postwar Iraq to reining in drug costs at the local pharmacy, lawmakers are challenging Bush administration decisions. The resistance is growing, and, increasingly, it's coming from both sides of the aisle. And it's eroding the view that this wartime president is invincible.

So far, the issues are still B-level. Congress is questioning 16 inaccurate words in the president's justification for taking up arms against Saddam Hussein, not whether the war itself was wrong. Likewise, while 28 blanked-out pages in a report on 9/11 are raising eyebrows, no one is blaming the administration for the attacks.

Some of the erosion is normal. "Sooner or later, every Congress discovers it is an independent branch of the federal government," says Larry Sabato, a professor of political science at the University of Virginia. "When the Congress is of the same party as the president, that discovery tends to come later."

But polling data suggest public dissatisfaction is also running deeper -and fueling the new resistance in Congress. It could mark a turning point in the Bush presidency. "With the president sliding in the polls, both Demo-crats and even some moderate Republicans are emboldened to be more critical," says pollster John Zogby.
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