Reagan to Defy Court, Congress on Bid Law
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WASHINGTON — Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III said Thursday that the Administration will defy Congress and a court decision ordering President Reagan to enforce a law aimed at increasing competitive bidding for government contracts.
His statement before the House Judiciary Committee so angered Democrats that Chairman Peter W. Rodino Jr. (D-N.J.), who chaired the committee when it voted to impeach President Richard M. Nixon, raised the specter of impeachment for Reagan. Other representatives angrily questioned Meese’s respect for law.
Rodino said that the President had no right to decide on the constitutionality of laws.
Last summer, Reagan signed the Deficit Reduction Act but called a rider to the law on competitive bidding “unconstitutional.” That provision of the law allows the General Accounting Office to review contracts to make certain bids were awarded properly.
In December, budget director David A. Stockman ordered the executive branch not to cooperate with the GAO.
Meese testified that the Administration would continue on its present course pending higher court action.
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