| If you haven't heard, Dick Cheney considers himself a unique branch of government. No, this is not a joke.
Cheney's office, according to a story first reported by the Chicago Tribune, has resisted attempts by a tiny federal agency to compile information -- in accordance with an executive order signed by George Bush himself -- on the classified documents being held by the Vice President's operation. Cheney's office argued that the Vice President's office, because it has both executive and legislative branch duties, is exempt from the order.
This would be funny if it weren't so serious. If he claims he's not in the executive branch, then he's obviously not considering himself suspect to the rules governing that service. |
| The good news is that commentators and lawmakers have come up with clever ways to keep Cheney corralled, as it were. The first suggestion was, if Cheney isn't part of the executive branch, then, as President of the Senate, he should be subject to the rules of the Senate.
Good enough for me.
And now House Democrat Rahm Emanuel has come up with another good idea:
Washington, D.C. House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel issued the following statement regarding his amendment to cut funding for the Office of the Vice President from the bill that funds the executive branch. The legislation -- the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill -- will be considered on the floor of the House of Representatives next week.
If he isn't in the executive branch, then he doesn't get executive branch money.
Still I'm not convinced either of these will work. The first idea is nice, but as soon as the Senate Ethics Committee takes up his case, he'll go scuttling back to the executive branch, and, like a ping-pong ball in a tornado, refuse the jurisdiction of bodies looking to win transparency and oversight over his office.
As for the second option, I don't think Cheney would find it difficult to find sponsorship for his office, do you?
We also have to be careful here and avoid legitimizing Cheney's claims with stunts like these. To consider the Vice President as part of any other governmental body directly contradicts Article II of the Constitution. He's a member of the executive branch. Period.
In the end, just like all the other members of the Bush government, Cheney will not follow the rules. Period. No amount of public shaming or legal threats will cause him, or Gonzo, or Rove, or Bush to actually comply with the law.
Either we abide by it, and wait until the turnover of the presidency into Democratic hands to uncover all the nastiness that went on in the past four years, or we impeach. |
