Cheney declares himself outside executive branch?????
 

http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1371

"Thursday, June 21, 2007
Administration Oversight
Vice President Exempts His Office from the Requirements for Protecting Classified Information
The Oversight Committee has learned that over the objections of the National Archives, Vice President Cheney exempted his office from the presidential order that establishes government-wide procedures for safeguarding classified national security information. The Vice President asserts that his office is not an “entity within the executive branch.”

As described in a letter from Chairman Waxman to the Vice President, the National Archives protested the Vice President's position in letters written in June 2006 and August 2006. When these letters were ignored, the National Archives wrote to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in January 2007 to seek a resolution of the impasse. The Vice President's staff responded by seeking to abolish the agency within the Archives that is responsible for implementing the President's executive order.

In his letter to the Vice President, Chairman Waxman writes: "I question both the legality and wisdom of your actions. ... [I]t would appear particularly irresponsible to give an office with your history of security breaches an exemption from the safeguards that apply to all other executive branch officials."

A fact sheet prepared by Chairman Waxman describes other instances in which the Vice President's office has sought to avoid oversight and accountability. "

(end of quote)

Please notice the words "The Vice President asserts that his office is not an “entity within the executive branch.” "

http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20070621095118.pdf

"Every four years, Congress prints the "Plum Book", listing the names and titles of all federal political appointees. In 2004, the Office of the Vice President, for the first time, refused to provide any information for inclusion in the book."

Just a little over a year longer to endure . . .

http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20070621094929.pdf

This is a letter sent to the Attorney General's office by the Information Security Oversight Office. Apparently, the Office of the Vice President does not consider itself an agency of the Executive branch, because it has "both legislative and executive functions."

So... what do we call it when the Vice Pres declares his office to be "not part of the executive branch of government"???? Anyone???

Uhm, business as usual in the Bush Administration? :sly

You cannot vote someone "out of office" if they are not part of the executive branch, now can you?

They have become A law unto themselves....

This is the last straw for me. If President Bush doesn't step in and do something about this then I doubt I will be voting for another Republican in the next election.

Just because Bush and Cheney are Republicans does not make this a Republican thing to be repeated in the next election.

Ron Paul won't pull any stunts like this. So you can still vote Republican.

Sorry, but if Cheney gets away with this it will set a very dangerous precedent, in my opinion, and maybe it's unfortunate that he's republican, but I won't be voting for any more Republicans next time around if Bush lets this slide.

Nope.

IF he does and it does set a dangerous precedent then he has set it for anyone sitting in office and not just a republican.

Richardtator???



(Dictator):lol

Or not. :)

Oh good grief.

this is much a-do about nothing!

Cheney is my hero, he is sticking it to the Dems in Congress! Go DC!


LOLOLOLOLOL!

by the way, this is all about the President and Vice President choosing to impliment an executive order issued by the President. There is no legal issue here at all.

you people need to quit listening to liberals.

Rico, do you even know what you are talking about?

Can you clearly articulate what DC is "getting away with"?

Ferd,

Could you please share with us what noble purpose DC has for declaring that his office is not an “entity within the executive branch.”

Wasn't the Vice Presidency within the executive branch?

Why the change?

Brother, I know exactly what he's done. He's basically said that the office of Vice President, or, more specifically, his office, is not part of the executive branch of the government. Here is an article I read earlier today.


Cheney Defiant on Classified Material
Executive Order Ignored Since 2003

By Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 22, 2007; Page A01

Vice President Cheney's office has refused to comply with an executive order governing the handling of classified information for the past four years and recently tried to abolish the office that sought to enforce those rules, according to documents released by a congressional committee yesterday.

Since 2003, the vice president's staff has not cooperated with an office at the National Archives and Records Administration charged with making sure the executive branch protects classified information. Cheney aides have not filed reports on their possession of classified data and at one point blocked an inspection of their office. After the Archives office pressed the matter, the documents say, Cheney's staff this year proposed eliminating it.



Vice President Cheney's office hasn't complied with an executive order on classified data since 2003. (Gerald Herbert - AP)

On the Web

BLOG: Federation of American Scientists Project on Government Secrecy This entry contains several related documents.


Save & Share Article What's This?

DiggGoogle
del.icio.usYahoo!
RedditFacebook




The dispute centers on a relatively obscure process but underscores a wider struggle waged in the past 6 1/2 years over Cheney's penchant for secrecy. Since becoming vice president, he has fought attempts to peer into the inner workings of his office, shielding an array of information such as the names of industry executives who advised his energy task force, costs and other details about his travel, and Secret Service logs showing who visits his office or official residence.

The aggressive efforts to protect the operations of his staff have usually pitted Cheney against lawmakers, interest groups or media organizations, sometimes going all the way to the Supreme Court. But the fight about classified information regulation indicates that the vice president has resisted oversight even by other parts of the Bush administration. Cheney's office argued that it is exempt from the rules in this case because it is not strictly an executive branch agency.

"He's saying he's above the law," said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which released a series of correspondence yesterday outlining the situation. "It just seems to me this is arrogant and shows bad judgment."

Cheney's office declined to discuss what it called internal matters. "We are confident that we are conducting the office properly under the law," said spokeswoman Megan McGinn.

The Justice Department confirmed yesterday that it is looking into the issue. "This matter is currently under review in the department," said spokesman Erik Ablin, who declined to elaborate.

The handling of classified information by Cheney's office has been a sensitive issue in the past. The vice president's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in March in a case stemming from the leak of a CIA agent's identity. Libby testified during the investigation that Cheney instructed him to leak intelligence on Iraq, telling him Bush had declassified the information.

The standoff disclosed yesterday stems from an executive order establishing a uniform, government-wide system for safeguarding classified information. The order was first signed by President Bill Clinton in 1995 and was updated and reissued by President Bush in 2003. Under the order, an "entity within the executive branch that comes into the possession of classified information" must report annually how much it is keeping secret.

Cheney's office filed annual reports in 2001 and 2002 describing its classification activities but stopped filing in 2003, according to internal administration letters released yesterday. Cheney's office made the case that it is not covered because the vice president under the Constitution also serves as president of the Senate and therefore has both legislative and executive duties.

In 2004, the Archives' Information Security Oversight Office, a 25-member agency responsible for securing classified information, decided to conduct an on-site inspection of Cheney's office to see how sensitive material was handled. The vice president's staff, according to a letter Waxman sent Cheney, blocked the inspection.

After the Chicago Tribune reported last year that Cheney failed to report classification data, the Federation of American Scientists filed a complaint. J. William Leonard, director of the Archives' oversight office, sent two letters to Cheney's chief of staff, David S. Addington, requesting compliance with the executive order but received no replies. Leonard then wrote Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales in January asking him to render a legal ruling on whether the vice president is violating the order. Gonzales has not replied.

In an interview yesterday, Steven Aftergood, who directs the federation's Project on Governmental Secrecy, said the dispute concerns "a very narrow bit of information" but indicated a broader disregard for following the same rules observed by the rest of the executive branch. "By refusing to comply with these trivial instructions, the vice president undermines the integrity of the executive order," he said. "If it can be violated with impunity on a trivial point, then it can also be violated on more important matters."

Leonard may have angered Cheney's office with his persistence. The administration is conducting a review of the executive order, and Leonard told Waxman's staff that Cheney aides proposed amending the order in a bid to abolish the Archives oversight office and explicitly exempt the vice president from its requirements. The elimination of the office has been rejected, Waxman said.

Leonard did not return phone messages yesterday. Susan Cooper, a spokeswoman for the National Archives, said: "In carrying out the responsibilities of the National Archives Information Security Oversight Office, we will continue to be responsive to the concerns of all governmental parties." Cheney's press office refused to comment on the changes proposed for the executive order.

The Vice President's office (meaning his staff) does not have legislative functions. Even the Vice President doesn't have any real legislative functions as President of the Senate. Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution states "The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided." Interestingly, there are no other functions listed in the Constitution for the Vice President.

That being the case, then it appears the office of the Vice President has no lawful power whatsoever except as a tie-breaker in Senate votes.

Somebody with lots of money needs to launch a federal lawsuit... :D

Basically, he's just there to take over the presidency if the President dies or becomes too incapacitated to perform the duties of the office (though it took the 25th Amendment to solidify that last part).

http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/..._President.htm

Perhaps Cheney is actually right, in a weird sort of way...

Also, it seems the Vice President is responsible for receiving and opening the election results from the states so they may be counted by the Congress.

My conclusion is that the Office of Vice President is a legislative office which happens to be first in line for succession should the President be incapacitated in his duties.

Why in the world the Office has evolved into an executive branch office I do not know.

What I DO know is that lawfully, the Office of Vice President is probably the least important office in government, or at least one of the least.

As to Cheney's actions while in office, or what his office actually "does", I have no idea anymore. His office is maintaining secrecy, which seems rather strange for an office charged simply with opening election results every four years and casting a tie breaking vote in the Senate whenever that becomes necessary, and being charged with presiding (as to rules of order) over the Senate.

In fact, it seems we could safely do away with the Office itself and just substitute a Presidential appointee in its place... (of course that would require an Amendment...)

But in having classified material in his office's possession, he's not acting in a legislative branch role. The material he has is related to the executive branch. He has no real executive branch functions according to the Constitution unless the President dies or becomes incapacitated. Yet, the Vice President is still considered part of the Executive Branch because he is elected with the President.

I see you can read Rico. Now you have said that Cheney's actions are a dangerous precident.

can you tell me in your own words why?

can you articulate exactly what the VP has done wrong?


These are very important questions if you are going to use DCs comments and actions as some kind of basis for opposing the DC, GW, or the republican party.

:lol

Sometimes Ann is dead on. sometimes she is a nincompoop

Sure, Brother. Let me make it simple for you. Cheney doesn't feel like he has to give an account of his actions. I feel it's a dangerous precedent (note the spelling) because this administration seems to be leaning more and more towards not having to account for anything it does, all in the name of supposed national security, and that scares me as an American. I have come to the point that I am seriously beginning to question exactly who's security it is they are trying to protect, theirs or ours. Bottom line, I don't trust either of them anymore and it reflects badly on the party Bush is representing, namely the Republican party. Have I passed your little test? :winkgrin

Well you havent passed but at least we are getting somewhere.

Lets stick to this topic strictly.
you suggest that Cheney's actions in this incident show a lack of accountability.

Can you tell me WHO Cheney is accountable to as it relates to the executive order that he is accused of violating?