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White House officials are worried that the controversy over the
issue of exempting faith-based charities from local anti-discrimination
laws will give Democrats an opening to press for a national anti-discrimination
law that has been stalled in Congress for years. And that is in
addition to Democratic threats of an investigation of the faith-based
office.
The flap began Tuesday, when the Washington Post reported
an internal Salvation Army memo suggesting the Bush administration
had agreed to change federal regulations to assure that the Salvation
Army and other groups taking part in the president's faith-based
initiative would not have to abide by state and local laws banning
discrimination against gays and lesbians.
Reacting to the story, spokesman Ari Fleischer said the White House
had not made any commitment to the Salvation Army. Last night, the
White House released a statement saying it "will not pursue the…regulation
proposed by the Salvation Army."
Democrats were quick to jump on the issue. Some House members called
for a General Accounting Office investigation before proceeding
any further with the faith-based initiative. In the Senate, Majority
Leader Tom Daschle said he was "troubled" by what he called "secret
deals" between the White House and one of the nation's largest charities.
"I'm very troubled by any deal that would not show the kind of tolerance
that I think we should show in this country," Daschle told reporters.
"So clearly it raises a lot of questions and I think may actually
imperil the president's efforts to get something passed."
Now, White House officials are concerned that Democrats will use
the Salvation Army controversy to renew the push for the Employment
Non-Discrimination Act, often referred to as ENDA, a proposed law
that would impose a federal ban on discrimination against gays and
lesbians. ENDA was nearly passed by the Senate in 1996, losing on
a 50 - 49 vote, and supporters are hoping to bring it up again this
year.
"I can see them trying to use this [the Salvation Army controversy]
as a pivot to say we really need to have this Employment Non-Discrimination
Act, to make it a new rallying cry," says a White House official.
"They'll try to make rhetorical points. They'll say, 'There they
go again, those right-wing Christians.'"
A spokesman for Daschle says the majority leader "doesn't have plans
to use this opportunity to push for that [ENDA] right now." But
another aide in the Senate leadership suggests the rhetorical campaign
is already underway. "They have to understand that things have changed
in America," he says of the Bush White House. "Most people believe
we should all have some protections, regardless of gender or sexual
orientation."
Meanwhile, other Democrats in Congress are threatening to open up
an investigation into the dealings between the White House and the
Salvation Army. On the day the story broke, Michigan Rep. John Conyers,
ranking minority on the House Judiciary Committee, along with New
York Rep. Jerrold Nadler, sent a letter to John DiIulio, head of
the White House faith-based initiative office, asking for an extraordinarily
detailed accounting of the office's dealings, including the following:
1) An itemization of all groups and persons that representatives
of the Bush administration have met with regarding charitable-choice
legislation, including representatives of the Salvation Army, along
with the dates and a description of the substance and discussions
of each meeting. Please include the names and titles of the Bush
administration representatives who participated in these meetings.
2) A description of any actual or potential promises or commitments
the administration or any representative within the administration
may have made to any groups or person in exchange for their support
of charitable-choice legislation or provisions permitting discrimination
in employment.
3) A copy of any and all drafts of a reported administrative legal
action or other regulation which would protect charities from state
and local efforts to prevent discrimination against gays and lesbians
in hiring and domestic-partner benefits, along with any legal memorandum
or other material concerning such a possible action.
Conyers and Nadler also asked for "a copy of any and all communications
within the White House or Executive Office of the President concerning
charitable-choice legislation or in connection with the above-listed
meetings, promises or commitments and administrative legal action,
including notes, e-mails, documents, memoranda, phone records and
any other types of written, audio or electronic communication."
The letter asked that DiIulio respond by this Friday.
It's a laundry-list request that the White House will likely refuse
to answer. With that in mind, Conyers is also threatening to ask
the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress,
to begin a probe if, as Conyers said in a statement, "the White
House fails to voluntarily cooperate." If the GAO were to agree
to an investigation, a confrontation similar to that currently going
on over vice president Dick Cheney's energy task force might ensue.
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