White House Won't Say If Cheney Is Part of Executive Branch

[kpete]

White House Won't Say If Cheney Is Part of Executive Branch
Yesterday we wrote about how Vice President Cheney defied the National Archives and exempted his office from a presidential order that required keeping all classified national security information. Cheney asserted that his office is not an "entity within the executive branch."

During a press conference today, the White House added fuel to the fire when spokeswoman Dana Perino would only say that Cheney's office is "an interesting constitutional question that people can debate." Partial transcript thanks to Carpetbagger Report:

Q: Would you agree with the contention that the office of the Vice President is not part of the executive branch?

PERINO: What I know--and I am not a lawyer and this is an interesting legal question that legal scholars can debate and I’m sure you’ll find plenty of them inside the Beltway--is that the Vice President has a unique role in our United States government. He is not only the Vice President of the United States, but in that role he is also the President of the Senate. I will go ahead, I will let that debate be held, but what I’m answering questions on, in regards to this morning, is Chairman Waxman’s accusations about this small provision and going back and reading the E.O. and realizing that the President did not intend to have the Vice President treated any differently than himself, and remembering that the executive order is enforced solely by the president of the United States. I think this is a little bit of a non-issue.Text

Sorry, folks, you've got two choices: executive or legislative. Last time I checked, there wasn't another secret branch of the government called "vice-president."

http://www.democrats.org/a/2007/06/white_house_won.php

[youngdem]

1. Pure fucking insanity.

Cheney is attempting to assert extra-governmental authority.

What a fucking loon.

[lvx35]

13. Totally!

i-n-s-a-n-e! Why doesn't somebody ask Cheney to identify which branch of the government he is in, and where in the constitution it is described?

[Sparkly]

2. "Department of Dick?"

:shrug:

[City Lights]

20. A new cult in the making?

The Branch Dickians. They're headquartered in Wacko.

[jimshoes]

3. Is dick the King now?

Does he rule by imperial decree from here on out? If not then it's time to arrest his criminal ass and put him in prison. Guess he picked the wrong week to subvert the government.

[Avalux]

4. This country is completely fucked. COMPLETELY.

And I have no hope we will recover any sense of normalcy when this sort of crap is allowed to be considered as possible. I want that snarling bag of shit thrown in the Hague. I know it won't happen, but that's what I want.

[Kazak]

7. And it all started with Warren Harding...

*ahem* That would be "normality"...

[Avalux]

8. The words are interchangeable; both correct.

When Warren Harding used the word "normalcy" - he brought back a very real word from obscurity; it was so obscure a lot of people thought he made it up. He didn't and the word is more commonly used now than is "normality". :hi:

[Lars39]

19. "snarling bag of shit"

Nodding here. Sums him up.

[Pharaoh]

5. He's next inline for President!

He is certifiable!:freak:

[Ilsa]

16. Hey! We get to skip Cheney and go straight to Pelosi if we can impeach Bush! nt

[Fridays Child]

6. This administration is entirely extra-constitutional--so much so, in fact, that...

...you have to wonder if impeachment would even apply. Maybe what we need to do is just send them eviction notices and move them out like the illegal squatters that they are. Nancy Pelosi can fill in until January of 2009.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

14. "Extra-constitutional" would make them enemies of state, in fact.

Think about it,...if they're whole aim was to violate the the limits presented by the Constitution by conspiring to find ways AROUND it,...

,...they ARE ENEMIES OF STATE, in fact.

[treestar]

9. What does he do all day?

If he only operates as President of the Senate, he's part of the legislative branch. He should spend all his time in the Senate.
As such, he should have no access to any intelligence or any decisions of the executive branch. He shouldn't be allowed to know the name of a single covert operative or have access to any information about any military operation.

Effing damn moran. Just says whatever he can think of and split hairs to get what he wants - he'll say the opposite tomorrow if need be.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

10. Fuck it!!!! Send it to the SCOTUS!!! I don't care if it's selected,...SEND IT TO THEM!!!

Challenge these criminal's stand, RIGHT NOW!!!!

Look at it this way: no matter how the SCOTUS rules, these assholes are screwed because they can NOT hold power forever (they will destroy the nation, along with themselves, if they try).

THIS IS THE MOMENT TO TAKE THE CORPORACRAT PROFITEERS ON,...TO THE DEATH OF THEM OR THIS NATION!!!!

DO! IT!

Do the right thing for the survival of this nation.

JUST FUCKING DO IT!!!! TAKE THE ASSHOLES ON!!!!

[4nic8em]

11. With regard to

the republic party, this must be what they mean when they claim "strict constructionists" to the Constitution. Sorry sumbitch...

[Straight Shooter]

12. White House spokespersons clearly chosen for their talent of spewing glib gobbledy-gook. n/t

[Blue_In_AK]

18. I've noticed that, too...

Everything that's important is called a "non-issue."

[Ilsa]

15. "Cheney? Cheney who? We don't have anyone named Richard

Cheney in this dept. Try Pelosi's or Reid's office."
Randi Rhodes had a good spoof on Snow and Perino's ambiguous responses and denials.

[KamaAina]

17. That's funny. The White House website does say.

And it says Yes: the VP is part of the pResident's Cabinet.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/cabinet.html

President Bush's Cabinet


The tradition of the Cabinet dates back to the beginnings of the Presidency itself. One of the principal purposes of the Cabinet (drawn from Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution) is to advise the President on any subject he may require relating to the duties of their respective offices.

The Cabinet includes the Vice President and the heads of 15 executive departments-the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, and the Attorney General. Under President George W. Bush, Cabinet-level rank also has been accorded to the Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency; Director, Office of Management and Budget; the Director, National Drug Control Policy; and the U.S. Trade Representative.

Q.E.D.