The Dems noticed and responded!
Since the story broke that Cheney claimed his office was not part of the executive branch, I’ve said in numerous blog comments, then in a post here, that Congress should simply refuse to pay him for his invisible effforts in the invisible branch of government he’s assigned himself to. Now the Dem leadership has crafted legislation to defund his office!
I wonder if they’ll take it to the next logical step I suggested:
While the Constitution offers only one clear path to dump a sitting executive - impeachment - it does not preclude other paths when an elected officer has seceded from the constitutional government by his own decree.
That course is, after all, the only check we have on his unbalanced-ness. Congressional leaders should simply accept his signing statement as a resignation, and ask Bush to nominate a new one. With the stipulation that if he fails to nominate another, the second in line for presidential succession will move to the fore, so Nancy Pelosi will be president if Bush fails to finish his term.
We have three branches of government, stipulated by the Constitution. Cheney’s claim that he belongs to none of thim means he’s set up an extra-Constitutional government of his own. The last time somebody did that, it caused a bloody War Between the States. Shouldn’t the less violent alternative now be preferable: accept Cheney’s statement as a personal secession from our Constitutional government, aka: his resignation?
I think Congress should do it. They lose nothing by doing so and gain credibility for standing up to a lawless, third rate mook. Bush will then be forced to veto the effort, but cannot do it without asserting that the VP’s office is indeed a member of the executive branch. Which, by law, also mandates Congressional oversight.
Rahm Emmanuel has just made his greatest move ever. I hope he’ll back it up with the next logical move.
