8-4-01; Vice President Cheney rejected a demand from the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, to produce information and documents related to the development of the Bush administration's energy policy.

The action by Cheney, in response to a "demand letter" sent July 18 by the GAO's chief, U.S. Comptroller General David M. Walker, takes the administration and Congress a step closer to a lawsuit or a congressional subpoena battle.

In a letter to the House and Senate, Cheney, chairman of President Bush's energy task force, wrote to inform lawmakers "of certain actions undertaken by an agent of the Congress, Comptroller General David M. Walker, which exceed his lawful authority and which, if given effect, would unconstitutionally interfere with the functioning of the executive branch."

Cheney has already said publicly that he would not comply with the GAO demand letter, the first the agency has issued to a president or vice president. The GAO now has the option of filing a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against Cheney, unless the president or the director of the Office of Management and Budget certifies that the documents sought are part of the executive branch's deliberative process and releasing them would impair the government from functioning. If the White House issued such a certification, the GAO would drop the matter, and the next step could be a congressional subpoena.

GAO spokesman Jeff Nelligan said yesterday he had no comment because the agency has not yet had time to review Cheney's letter.

The dispute stems from the private meetings of the energy task force, about which little information was released. The interagency, Cabinet-level task force and its six staff members met with various interests before issuing its report in May, but environmentalists complained that more access was given to energy-industry views. The final proposal included a range of ideas, including greater conservation, but emphasized the need to produce more oil, gas and other forms of energy.

Reps. John D. Dingell (Mich.) and Henry A. Waxman (Calif.), the ranking Democrats of the Energy and Commerce and Government Reform committees, respectively, asked the GAO in April to investigate the meetings. Dingell and Waxman said they wanted to know about the access the administration was giving to large donors.

"They want immunity from scrutiny," Waxman said. "They're distorting the law to shield them against routine oversight and in the process trivializing and demeaning the constitutional prerogatives available to the president."