Remember the lawsuit about Cheney's Energy Task Force? Well, it was just dismissed by a federal judge.

A federal judge Monday dismissed a lawsuit filed by the investigative arm of Congress against Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force.



U.S. District Judge John Bates said the case filed by Comptroller General David Walker against the vice president is an unprecedented act that raises serious separation-of-powers issues between the executive and legislative branches of government.

"No court has ever before granted what the comptroller general seeks," wrote Bates, an appointee of President Bush.

The judge said that the comptroller general, who runs the General Accounting Office, "does not have the personal, concrete and particularized injury required" under the Constitution and that "his complaint must be dismissed."

Courts historically have not stepped in to resolve disputes between the political branches, wrote Bates.