Analysis: White House Likes Its Secrets

President Bush speaks in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in Washington Tuesday, March 20, 2007. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) (Charles Dharapak - AP)

"I believe that we are seeing the result of years of accumulated anger and frustration by members of both parties with the administration," said George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley.

Last week, the House voted to limit no-bid federal contracts, alleging abuses and citing huge losses in contracts for Hurricane Katrina recovery and Iraq reconstruction. The Accountability in Contracting Act was the last of five open-government bills the House passed this week under new Democratic leaders critical of what they say has been the closed and secretive nature of the Bush administration.

The other measures would:

_Require that contributors to the Bush presidential library make their donations public.

_Overturn a directive by Bush making it easier for current and former presidents to withhold their records from historians and the public.

_Give the public and the media more clout in getting sometimes-reluctant federal agencies to respond to Freedom of Information Act requests.

_Expand whistle-blower protections, specifically for national security officials, airport screeners and government scientists who say they experience political pressure or retaliation because of their research.

The White House has threatened vetoes if the presidential records or the whistle-blower bills reach Bush's desk.

Fights between Congress and the president's prerogative to get unfettered advise from advisers are not new.

In 1974, President Nixon tried to use executive privilege to avoid turning over his secret White House tapes to the Watergate special prosecutor. The Supreme Court ruled against Nixon, who later resigned when impeachment seemed imminent.

Clinton invoked or threatened to assert executive privilege during the Monica Lewinsky investigation, impeachment and other matters. He also invoked executive privilege to block documents sought by the independent counsel investigating Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy. During the perjury and obstruction probe of the president that led to his impeachment, Clinton considered and dropped a variety of privilege claims. They were thought unlikely to stand up in court.

The round with this president has just begun.

"We're going to keep plugging away and not be hindered by the president throwing up these roadblocks for his buddy Karl Rove," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

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EDITOR'S NOTE _ Deb Riechmann has covered the Clinton and Bush presidencies for The Associated Press.