Cheney Plays Down Dispute With Specter

Vice President Cheney and the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee are at odds over legislative oversight of the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance programs. In a sharp exchange of letters this week, the two clashed over planned hearings into the programs, with Cheney defending himself against Sen. Arlen Specter's accusation that he had interfered with committee business.

The Pennsylvania Republican's frustration with the administration's tight-lipped position on the programs boiled over this week, at a Tuesday hearing and in a Wednesday letter to Cheney that was released to the media. Specter's letter accused Cheney of going behind his back to forge an agreement with other Republican members of his committee to prevent testimony from the executives of three major phone companies that reportedly provided a huge cache of call records to the National Security Agency.

Cheney defended his actions in a letter to Specter yesterday, saying his intention was to avert testimony that may involve "extremely sensitive classified information." While Cheney lobbied other members of the committee, White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten reached out to Specter himself to discuss the matter, the letter said.

"These communications are not unusual -- they are the government at work," Cheney wrote.

The two men later spoke by phone in what an administration official called a cordial conversation, though no other details emerged.

The exchange of letters brought into public view the simmering tensions between the administration and Specter, who has been openly critical of the administration's electronic eavesdropping and data-collection programs. The administration has defended the programs as legal and aimed only at potential terrorists; Specter views them as constitutionally dubious.

Specter sent his letter to Cheney after realizing during a closed meeting of Judiciary Committee Republicans the day before that the vice president had managed to persuade Republican members of his committee not to move ahead with plans to issue subpoenas requiring the phone company executives to testify before the panel.

Also, in a complaint that paralleled his comments at a Tuesday hearing, Specter said that the administration has refused to provide him a formal position on legislation he is planning that would regulate the administration's surveillance program. The administration has said it has the authority without a warrant to order the NSA to eavesdrop on international calls to or from the United States involving suspected terrorists.

"I was surprised, to say the least, that you sought to influence, really determine, the action of the committee without calling me first, or at least calling at some point," Specter wrote. "This was especially perplexing since we both attended the Republican senators caucus lunch yesterday and I walked directly in front of you on at least two occasions enroute from the buffet to my table."

Cheney countered that the administration has been in constant communication with key members of Congress about the programs, and that Specter could always receive a formal administration position on his proposed legislation from the Justice Department -- something Specter's office acknowledged he has not sought.

Staff writer Walter Pincus contributed to this report.