Wal-Mart warning employees off Democrats

Wal-Mart -- the country's largest private employer -- is holding mandatory meetings for its store managers and department supervisors, who are being warned about the potential dangers of a Democratic win this fall, the Wall Street Journal's Ann Zimmerman and Kris Maher report.

"The Wal-Mart human-resources managers who run the meetings don't specifically tell attendees how to vote in November's election, but make it clear that voting for Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama would be tantamount to inviting unions in,"

Zimmerman and Maher write. They quote one anonymous Wal-Mart customer-service supervisor as saying:

The meeting leader said, "I am not telling you how to vote, but if the Democrats win, this bill will pass and you won't have a vote on whether you want a union." I am not a stupid person. They were telling me how to vote.

A Wal-Mart spokesman responded, "If anyone representing Wal-Mart gave the impression we were telling associates how to vote, they were wrong and acting without approval."

The law in question is the Employee Free Choice Act, which is supported by Democrats and would replace secret balloting when workers choose a union with a "card check" system, something likely to result in increased union membership.

The meetings appear to be legal, though the company may be treading on thin ice by bringing in the department supervisors. The WSJ notes, "Federal election rules permit companies to advocate for specific political candidates to its executives, stockholders and salaried managers, but not to hourly employees. While store managers are on salary, department supervisors are hourly workers." Companies are allowed to inform their workers about candidates' records and positions, however.

Wal-Mart is notorious for working to keep unions out of its stores; the WSJ recounts, "The United Food and Commercial Workers was successful in organizing only one group of Wal-Mart workers -- a small number of butchers in East Texas in early 2000. Several weeks later, the company phased out butchers in all of its stores... When a store in Canada voted to unionize... the company closed the store, saying it had been unprofitable for years."

― Alex Koppelman


Judge says Bush aides must comply with subpoenas

In a strongly worded ruling released Thursday, a U.S. District Judge rejected the Bush administration's argument that its senior officials are immune from subpoenas issued by Congress.

The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by the House of Representatives. The suit seeks to force former White House counsel Harriet Miers and White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten to comply with subpoenas issued to them during the course of the Congressional investigation into the administration's controversial firing of a number of U.S. Attorneys.

"The Executive's current claim of absolute immunity from compelled congressional process for senior presidential aides is without any support in the case law," U.S. District Judge John Bates wrote in his opinion. Bates went on to cite United States v. Nixon, a landmark Supreme Court ruling in which the court said, "neither the doctrine of separation of powers, nor the need for confidentiality of high-level communications, without more, can sustain an absolute, unqualified Presidential privilege of immunity from judicial [or congressional] process under all circumstances."

Bates did say in his ruling, however, that Miers and Bolten could assert executive privilege regarding specific questions or documents; he only barred a blanket assertion of immunity.

It's not yet certain that Miers and Bolten will comply with the subpoenas against them. The White House can appeal Bates' ruling, and as Bates himself noted, it probably will. One reason to pursue an appeal is that it could drag on for quite some time, and meanwhile the game clock is running out quickly -- the subpoenas expire with the inauguration of a new House in January, though they could be re-issued.

And it's worth noting, by the way, some interesting parts of Bates' resume: he worked for Ken Starr as a deputy independent counsel and was appointed to the bench by President Bush.
We've made both Bates' opinion and the resulting order he issued available for download in PDF form. The opinion is here, and the order is here.

― Alex Koppelman