The House Judiciary Committee postponed the scheduled Thursday appearance of former White House Counsel Harriet Miers regarding the firing of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006.

The postponement was expected since Justice Department lawyers made clear Miers would not appear while the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit considers its request to stay a lower court’s order to comply with House Judiciary Committee subpoenas. Miers and White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten had refused to comply with committee subpoenas after Bush asserted executive privilege. Bolten was subpeoenaed for White House records related to the firings.

The D.C. Circuit last week issued a temporary stay of the order while it considers the Justice Department’s request for a longer stay. Both the Justice Department and congressional lawyers filed briefs this week and a decision on the longer stay could come at any time from the appeals court.

On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee put off action in another one of its ongoing legal battles with the Bush Administration.

The committee postponed a vote on citing Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey for contempt for not complying with a months-old subpoena for documents related to several investigations.

The delay came a day after the Justice Department handed over 681 pages of documents regarding one of the investigations and requested that the Judiciary Committee put off the vote.

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