Zoe Lofgren: “Obviously, we all like and honor the Speaker of the House. I was pleased to hear his recognition that this should have…”

“Obviously, we all like and honor the Speaker of the House. I was pleased to hear his recognition that this should have gone through the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group because that is how the House organizes itself before asserting a privilege of the House in court. What he didn't say is why, since cert was granted on January 19--and today is March 17--he didn't call together the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group. Certainly, we have met in a much shorter time frame. I know because I have been a participant in that process. The failure to follow the procedures in this instance can only lead observers to conclude that this is a more politicized action than is traditional in terms of intervening in the court. Now, the Speaker said: ``All legislative powers are vested in Congress.'' No one can disagree with that. And that the President must ``take care that the laws be faithfully executed.'' No one can disagree with that. Is the Speaker saying that we did not, in 2002, delegate to the Secretary of Homeland Security the responsibility to establish priorities and policies, the priorities for removal, that we did not fail to provide most of the money that would be necessary to actually remove every single undocumented person in here? I think not. In fact, the President has done exactly what we said he should do in 2002. To approve this resolution, which says that he has acted inconsistent with his duties, is a mystery. It is a pig in a poke for the Republicans.…”