A new poll has found that a clear majority of voters believe President Barack Obama used his executive powers inappropriately last week when he issued an executive order blocking the release of documents relating to the Mexican gun-running scandal known as Operation Fast and Furious.
Deceased Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry
The Hill
is reporting that its latest poll finds little approval for the president’s move to protect Attorney General Eric Holder who has been under fire for more than a year for a gun-running operation gone wrong that left U.S. border patrol agent Brian Terry dead.
Last week, members of the House Oversight and Government Reform committee voted along party lines to hold Holder in contempt for refusing to hand over key documents that would answer questions about what and when the Department of Justice knew about the operation. President Barack Obama stepped in at the last minute and issued an Executive Order blocking release of the documents.
According to the Hill poll, voters did not approve of the move. Overall, 56 percent of voters disapproved of his action, while only 29 percent approved.
Even though White House press secretary Jay Carney tried to explain away the move as an “assertion of privilege” that has to do with “the absolute necessity of retaining the executive branch’s independence” the voting public just isn’t buying it
Independents are particularly upset by the move with 61 percent disapproving and only 25 percent saying they were in favor of it.
Republicans were even more opposed with 78 percent disapproving.
However, even 28 percent of Democrats and 30 percent of self-identified liberals said they disapproved of the president’s use of his executive powers in this case.
The same poll also revealed that voters have had enough of the partisan divide on Capitol Hill. A clear majority said they would actually prefer to have a single party in control of both Congress and the White House.
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