Dick Cheney Cares About His Allowance

Posted by on . 3 comments.

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Cheney part of executive branch again – The Politico (6/27/07):

Vice President Cheney’s office will not pursue the argument that he is separate from the executive branch, senior administration officials tell The Politico. The decision follows a threat by Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), the No. 3 House Democrat, to try to cut off the office’s $4.8 million in executive-branch funding.

Hard to believe that Rahm did something productive, so congratulations are certainly in order.

Comments

  1. sarabeth says:
    June 27, 2007 at 8:07 am

    It may not be as simple as that.

    Here’s what Cheney’s office actually wrote to Kerry:

    “Constitutional issues in government are generally best left for discussion when unavoidable disputes arise in a specific context instead of in theoretical discussions,” David Addington tells Kerry. “Given that the executive order treats the vice president like the president rather than like an ‘agency,’ it is not necessary in these circumstances to address the subject of any alternative reasoning, based on the law and history of the legislative functions of the vice presidency and the more modern executive functions of the vice presidency, to reach the same conclusion that the vice presidency is not an ‘agency’ with respect to which [the Information Security Oversight Office] has a role.”

    However:

    The executive order, Cheney’s office now argues, makes a distinction between Bush and Cheney on the one hand, and executive-branch agencies on the other. Asked where the executive order says this, Cheney’s office refuses to say.

    But here’s the thing: we can read the executive order. Sec. 6.1(b) of the document explicitly states that it applies to any “‘Executive agency…any ‘Military department’…and any other entity within the executive branch that comes into the possession of classified information.” To exempt Cheney, the White House has to argue that he a) doesn’t have access to classified information; or b) is not an entity within the executive branch. Those are the only two options.

    So given that the executive order doesn’t seem to exempt Cheney (or Bush, for that matter), it may well become necessary again in these circumstances to address the subject of the alternative reasoning that Cheney’s office just tried to deem unnecessary.

  2. john says:
    June 27, 2007 at 6:43 pm

    The Washington Post series highlights more than a few examples where Cheney concedes some ground only to redouble his efforts behind the scenes. I doubt his theory on the executive branch has change. It’s more likely he’ll just find other means of enforcing it, and we’ll go down this road again.

  3. Poetry says:
    July 5, 2007 at 4:40 pm

    In a recently found addendum to a hidden codice of the constitution–written on the back of a signing statement: Congress shall make no law respecting Dick Cheney’s free exercise of absolute power.