Russ Feingold and Czars

The White House dissed Russ Feingold on Tuesday and he's ticked off.

From The Hill:

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) scolded the White House for not showing up to an oversight hearing Tuesday to answer questions about executive-branch czars.

“The White House decided not to accept my invitation to send a witness to this hearing to explain its position on the constitutional issues we will address today,” Feingold said at a hearing of his Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution.

“That’s unfortunate. It’s also a bit ironic, since one of the concerns that has been raised about these officials is that they will thwart congressional oversight of the executive branch.”

The White House did send a letter, from White House counsel Gregory Craig, explaining its position to Feingold’s panel.

Feingold has become an unlikely ally to Fox News host Glenn Beck and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) in the national debate over policy “czars.” These are officials who hold White House positions but are not subject to Senate confirmation.

...Feingold, who is known as a fierce defender of congressional authority, said he didn’t understand why Obama, who campaigned on a promise of providing better transparency and accountability, would decide to avoid answering questions about the growing number of so-called czars in his administration.

“The White House seems to want to fight the attacks against it on a political rather than substantive level,” he said. “I don’t think that’s the right approach. If there are good answers to the questions that have been raised, why not give them instead of attacking the motives or good faith of those who have raised questions?”

When it comes to his concern about Obama's army of czars, I'm on the same page as Feingold.

That's very rare.

If the Bush administration snubbed Feingold this way, he would have blown a gasket. He accused President Bush of acting like King George.

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., believes President Bush is acting more like a sovereign monarch than an elected leader by authorizing the National Security Agency to listen in on Americans' phone calls.

"We have a system of law," Feingold said. "He just can't make up the law … It would turn George Bush not into President George Bush, but King George Bush."

Feingold railed against President Bush for "grabbing too much power."

While Feingold is criticizing the Obama White House for its power grab and thwarting congressional oversight, he's still rather restrained. I suppose he doesn't want to burn any bridges.

I think Feingold envisions himself as a justice on the Supreme Court of the United States.