Is that possible? - I read the news article "Sen. Specter prepping bill to sue Bush"?

Question

I am unfamiliar with the policies and politics of US govt, I am curious Is it really possible for the Senate or House of Reps to sue the President? I remember years ago the attempt to impeach former President Clinton over what was viewed as a misdemeanor unbecoming of a President.

I think its great that all power doesnt lie in the hands of a single person, otherwise abuse of power is SO possible,but Can the President veto the attempt to sue? TQ

Answer 1

The veto is an overriding power that checks the power of congress or the supreme court. For example, the Congress passed a bill that would allow for more funds to be given to stem cell research, Bush summarily Vetos the bill and kills it.

Lawsuits are not a part of that system, and people frequently sue the government or government entities. Mainly this is done in cases where they feel like their Constitutional Rights have been violated, or to break confidential seals on records that the government is trying to hide.

Answer 2

Specter (a Republican) is suing. It is possible, and you should read more about it. It's about all the signing statements by Bush. Bush has done more of these (800) than all previous Presidents combined.

And no, he can't veto the attempt to sue him. However there are other legal strategies he can resort to that will either delay or possibly get it dismissed. But Arlen knows this, and he's just trying to raise the awareness of Bush's abuse of power in this regards. We have three branches of government to avoid any single person from having too much power. Unfortunately, Bush has tried to change many of the rules along his way and has often been successful in the name of fighting terrorism.

Answer 3

Do you have a source on what you read?

No, they can't sue but they can bring up criminal charges on a governmental level.

They can sue on a personal level... meaning like Sen. Specter can file a personal damage lawsuit against Bush for some sort of personal loss. For example, there was a recent lawsuit filed against Rove for his leaking the name of that CIA agent. She has filed suit against him for ruining her career.

Also, now it is a different story if they create a bill allowing them to do this. What I mean is: under current legislation they can't but since they make legislation, maybe they plan to create a bill allowing it. Should be quite interesting and I am sure it will go all the way to the Supreme Court.

The catch would be that the bill would have to be either signed by Bush in order to be ratified or in the event he vetoed it, 2/3 of congress would have to agree on it for it to pass. = I doubt it.

But shoot, it does play for fun politics.

Answer 4

It is a lawsuit addressing the constitutionality of "Signing Statements". President Bush has been adding "Signing Statements" (which amount to LINE ITEM vetos specifying areas to which he says he is not bound) to Bills sent to him that he doesn't agree with. President Bush refuses to sign them as they are written and signs them conditionally. UNCONSTITUTIONAL. And he's done it over 800 times. The only way to challenge the president about this is to challenge the constitutionality, or "File suit" in the Supreme Court. They are not filing a personal lawsuit against him for damages as some of you seem to think.

Answer 5

WASHINGTON (AP) - A powerful Republican committee chairman who has led the fight against President Bush's signing statements said Monday he would have a bill ready by the end of the week allowing Congress to sue him in federal court ...

The rest here
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/07/24/national/w162052D20.DTL&feed=rss.news

Edit:
Why does everyone come back and change their answer to make it seem as if that's what they first said?

Answer 6

He is suppose to present a bill to congress by weeks end. The article is under yahoo in politics.