Last week, the appeals court refused to reconsider its previous ruling against Cheney, leaving him with the option of appealing to the Supreme Court or complying with a lower court order to release information about his task force's contacts with the energy industry while drafting policy in 2001.

Arguing that the case raised important constitutional questions, Cheney's lawyers asked the appeals court to "stay" its mandate so that Cheney would have the opportunity to present his case to the Supreme Court.

"Judicial power cannot extend to compelling a vice president to disclose to private persons the details of the process by which a president obtains information and advice from the vice president ..." the lawyers said.

One of the groups suing for the information accused the administration of delaying tactics.

"At some point, the Bush administration is going to have to realize that the American people want to know what kind of influence energy corporations had over America's energy policies," said David Bookbinder, senior attorney for the Sierra Club, an environmental group.

Judicial Watch and the Sierra Club contend that Cheney consulted with industry executives like disgraced former Enron Corp. chief Kenneth Lay, while ignoring environmentalists as he drafted energy policy.

Cheney has acknowledged meeting Lay, but his lawyers say the task force was comprised of government officials, not corporate chieftains. The Bush administration has released thousands of pages of information from agencies involved in drafting the energy policy, but none from the White House.