Guest editorial: The White House deal

The arrangement calls for two- and four-member subcommittees of the 10-member panel to screen daily CIA presidential briefings, from both the Clinton and Bush administrations, and report back to the full commission only what is truly relevant to the investigation. It is already known that, in August 2001, one of those briefings contained a warning that al Qaeda was planning some kind of hijackings.

The compromise averts what could have been a lengthy standoff if the panel had gone ahead with its threat to subpoena the 10- to 12-page daily briefings. The commission is obligated to fulfill the terms of its charter and to conduct a full and complete investigation of the events leading up to 9/11, but the White House is understandably wary about precedents that would compromise executive privilege and the separation of powers.

Two Democratic members of the panel, former Sen. Max Cleland, Ga., and former Rep. Tim Roemer, Ind., have called the compromise unacceptable. Cleland called it "unconscionable." The Family Steering Committee, the group of victims' relatives that lobbied for creation of the commission, is skeptical of the deal and has called for the full terms of the access to be made public, which seems reasonable.

However, the screening process should be given a chance to work and the White House given the presumption of good faith in making it work.

That said, the Bush administration opposed creation of the panel and has only grudgingly cooperated with it. The commission has been forced to subpoena the Defense Department and the Federal Aviation Administration for documents it has long sought.

The panel's final report has gained new importance now that a clumsy Democratic proposal to politicize the workings of the Senate Intelligence Committee on 9/11 has come to light. Inevitably, the committee's findings will not be seen in a partisan light.

The commission has a deadline of next May to finish its work. Congress should grant the panel a generous extension of its deadline -- just in case the deal with the White House doesn't work out.