by TChris

Presidents claim executive privilege on behalf of their advisers because (they say) their advisers might be discouraged from giving honest and candid advice if the advice could become public. Executive privilege might prevent Congress from asking "What advice did you give to the President?," but it should not be invoked to prevent Congress from asking "Did the administration lie to Congress?"

The Bush administration, having abandoned executive privilege for Condoleezza Rice, is invoking it to keep health-policy adviser Douglas Badger mum. Congress wonders whether Badger gave the President more accurate estimates about the cost of the new Medicare prescription-drug benefit than the President gave Congress.

Several Ways and Means Committee members wanted to know whether Badger suppressed or passed on to senior Bush administration officials figures he obtained in early June indicating that the drug benefit might cost more than $500 billion in its first 10 years. When lawmakers narrowly passed the measure in November, many relied on a $395 billion Congressional Budget Office estimate.

The inquiry follows Richard Foster's disclosure that Medicare administrator Thomas Scully threatened to fire him if he reported the higher estimate to members of Congress.