Cuba. In November 2004, a federal district court ruled that the military tribunals violated both
American and international law, thereby threatening the system devised by the president.
The White House also claimed sweeping executive authority to arrest and hold
individuals (both American citizens and foreign citizens) suspected of links to terrorists without
formally charging them with crimes, and argued that the judiciary had no authority to review the
status of these detainees (Fisher 2005:114). These “enemy combatants”, according to the
administration, were not subject to the standards of treatment delineated by the Geneva
Conventions, did not possess rights to attorney, and could be held incommunicado for an
indefinite period of time. The administration’s claims to plenary authority over the fate of
“enemy combatants” shocked even some conservatives inside and outside Congress: retiring
House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas declared that Attorney General John Ashcroft and
the Justice Department were “out of control” (quoted in McMahon 2004:130). The White
House’s position on “enemy combatants” ultimately faced review by the Supreme Court, which
held in Rasul v. Bush (2004) and Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (2004) that the courts did possess the
authority to review the status of both American citizens and foreign citizens deemed “enemy
combatants” and held without charge in the United States and at Guantanamo Bay.
A sober assessment of Bush’s administrative presidency suggests that Bush has been
nearly as ambitious as Ronald Reagan in his use of bureaucratic politics in the realm of domestic
affairs, despite the considerably more favorable political environment he has enjoyed throughout
his presidency. In foreign affairs, Bush has permitted Congress to play an important role, but one
that has been limited to enacting sweeping grants of authority that have given the administration
wide latitude in deciding where and how to fight a war against terror and to provide for
homeland security. Bush’s extensive use of administrative politics suggests that even presidents
who take party-building seriously and enjoy strong partisan support in Congress are likely to be
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