Cheney: Office not part of executive branch

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by DRoseDARs
You know of anyone else having more bathrooms than you can count on one hand?

Are you missing a couple fingers?

[Imran Siddiqui]

Are you ****ing kidding me?!

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/28/washington/28cheney.html

June 28, 2007

White House Drops Vice President’s Dual-Role Argument as Moot

By JIM RUTENBERG

WASHINGTON, June 27 — The White House has dropped the argument that Vice President Dick Cheney’s dual role as president of the Senate meant that he could deny access to national archivists who oversee the handling of classified data in the executive branch.

Mr. Cheney’s office had said that his dual role meant that he was technically not part of the executive branch.

In interviews over the last two days, officials have said that while the vice president does, in fact, have the right of refusal, it is for the very opposite reason: He is not required to cooperate with National Archives officials seeking the data because he is a member of the executive branch, with power vested in him by the president.

The White House was in effect walking away from a fight over Mr. Cheney’s place within the Constitution that it has clearly not relished since the dispute broke wide into public view last week.

Mr. Cheney’s office has regularly denied routine requests for data on its classifications of internal documents by the Information and Security Oversight Office, the unit of the National Archives that oversees the classification and declassification of data. The National Archives is assigned to collect the data under a presidential executive order, and other White House offices, like the National Security Council, have regularly complied with its requests.

The vice president’s chief of staff, David S. Addington, had argued that the executive order pertained to “entities” of the executive branch. The vice president’s office, he had argued, was clearly not such an executive entity because of the vice president’s function as head of the Senate.

Mr. Addington’s position was publicized last week in a letter to Mr. Cheney from Representative Henry A. Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. In the letter, Mr. Waxman, Democrat of California, called upon the vice president’s office to explain more fully its position.

Since the letter became public, Mr. Bush’s representatives have been pelted with questions about whether Mr. Cheney was invoking a double standard, frequently invoking executive privilege when accused of being overly secretive and now asserting not to be part of the executive branch.

The argument became fodder for Democrats like Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, who said he planned to introduce a proposal to suspend Mr. Cheney’s financing as an executive branch officer.

Officials in the West Wing privately expressed frustration with the fallout from the vice-presidential position — which Mr. Cheney’s representatives first publicly asserted last year in The Chicago Tribune— especially, they said, because it was an argument he did not have to make.

In an interview, a White House spokesman, Tony Fratto, said the executive order explicitly placed Mr. Cheney on equal footing with the president, who was the issuer and enforcer of the order, regardless of any other constitutional questions.

Speaking of the oversight office’s approaches to the vice president’s office, Mr. Fratto said, “It’s not appropriate for a subordinate office like that to investigate or require reporting from the enforcer of the executive order.”

A White House official placed further distance from the dual role argument by adding that Mr. Cheney did not necessarily agree with it.

On Tuesday, Mr. Addington responded to questions by Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, saying in a letter that it was not necessary to engage in “alternative reasoning” on Mr. Cheney’s place within the Constitution to justify his refusal to cooperate with archivists.

The internal dispute, however, continues and has been referred to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales.

This administration will say ANYTHING and won't even make sure it makes sense before they do. First he's not a member of the exec branch and that's why he doesn't have to comply; NOW, his status in the exec branch is why he doesn't have to comply... WTF?!

[DinoDoc]

Boo! I actually liked the "He's part of Congress!" arguement. It had the advantage of actually being interesting.

[Lorizael]

The internal dispute, however, continues and has been referred to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales.

Write this down so you don't forget when it happened, Al!

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Are you ****ing kidding me?!



This administration will say ANYTHING and won't even make sure it makes sense before they do. First he's not a member of the exec branch and that's why he doesn't have to comply; NOW, his status in the exec branch is why he doesn't have to comply... WTF?!

Actually thats the way the executive order was written. The first claim that Cheney was part of the legislative was always a horse hockey claim. This latest point is the real reason he can tell national archivist to pound sand. Because he along with POTUS essentially is their boss, beyotch.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Ogie Oglethorpe
Actually thats the way the executive order was written. The first claim that Cheney was part of the legislative was always a horse hockey claim. This latest point is the real reason he can tell national archivist to pound sand. Because he along with POTUS essentially is their boss, beyotch.

But to go from one extreme to the other is absolutely ridiculous. Talk about making **** up.... the story can't even be stuck to for a week.

[LordShiva]

The top two threads in the forum are about Cheney.

We need a Dick Cheney sub-forum.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui


But to go from one extreme to the other is absolutely ridiculous. Talk about making **** up.... the story can't even be stuck to for a week.

Agreed completely. Thats why I was pretty much adamant that the first claim was horse hockey and that the VP has been defined via the constitution as a member of the executive. Listed as such in Article 2. Section 4.

So yes the admin has their head up their butts (what else is new) but doesn't change the fact that Cheney can tell the NA to go screw themselves.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Oh, of course... but that tends to get Congress all pissed off... not that they aren't anyway.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Maybe thats why he did it in the first place. The ole "I'm one of you mofo's. You want to come after me be prepared to have a colonoscopy as you opened up a whole new can of worms."


Regardless it was a lame excuse regardless of what Washington claimed about Adams.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

"We've always been at war with Eastasia."

Can I call it self-pwnage yet, Kuci?

[Patroklos]

If your talking about you using that quote, then yes.

[Kuciwalker]

Koy: if you think that, you haven't actually read my posts.

edit: I misread your post. Sorry. And yes.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

:sigh:

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Originally posted by Patroklos
If your talking about you using that quote, then yes.

And it is in what way inappropriate to the situation?