On Monday, we talked about the Office of the Vice President refusing to cooperate with a government directory known as the “Plum Book,” which lists government employees. Federal agencies have to comply by listing staffers in the directory, but Dick Cheney’s office claimed an exemption for itself, arguing that the “Vice Presidency is a unique office that is neither a part of the executive branch nor a part of the legislative branch.”
In other words, employees of the three branches of the federal government have to give staff lists for the Plum Book, but the OVP apparently believes it’s not part any of the three branches. At the risk of sounding overdramatic, it’s one of those horrifying arguments that makes me worry about the integrity of our constitutional system.
And as it turns out, Cheney’s OVP keeps using it.
An important legal ruling is pending over Vice President Cheney’s refusal to disclose statistics on document classification and declassification activity. The Information Security Oversight Office, which is responsible for the policy and oversight of the government’s security classification system, has asked Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to direct Cheney’s office to disclose these statistics.
Cheney’s office provided the information until 2002 but then stopped doing so, J. William Leonard, the director of ISOO, told U.S. News. At issue is whether the office of the vice president is an executive branch entity when it comes to supporting the activities of the president and the vice president. The reporting requirements for disclosing classification and declassification activity fall under a presidential executive order.
“Basically the definition says that any entity of the executive branch that comes into possession of classified information is covered by the reporting requirements,” says Leonard. “I have my understanding of what the executive order requires, and I’m going to the attorney general to ascertain if my reading of the executive order is correct.”
However, Megan McGinn, Cheney’s deputy press secretary, says the vice president’s office is exempt.
“This matter has been thoroughly reviewed,” McGinn told U.S. News, “and it has been determined that reporting requirements do not apply to the office of the vice president, which has both legislative and executive functions.”
At the risk of sounding intemperate, this is insane.
Cheney’s office seems to have declared itself some kind of fourth branch of the government. It’s legislative, it’s executive, it’s accountable to no one .. it’s the super branch.
In this particular case, the executive branch is required to disclose statistics on document classification and declassification activity to the Information Security Oversight Office. It’s about accountability and oversight, two words that seem to send shivers down Cheney’s spine. The OVP’s creative constitutional interpretation leads it to a convenient conclusion, keeping secret their efforts to keep things secret.
Or, more accurately, how much stuff they keep secret.
“No secrets would be revealed, only statistics,” says Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists, who urged ISOO to obtain the compliance of the vice president’s office last May. “But the office of the vice president is resisting even that minimal level of accountability.”
If the attorney general determines that Cheney’s interpretation of the executive order is right, Leonard says it would be the final answer. “That’s it for me,” says Leonard. ISOO is a component of the National Archives and oversees the security classification programs both for the government and the security industry. Leonard reports to the archivist of the United States and is required at least annually to submit a report to the president about the government’s classification programs and significant classification and declassification activities.
I know ISOO is a fairly obscure agency, it’s late on a Friday afternoon, and this may seem like trivia, but it’s a serious constitutional question, which could have key political consequences. Cheney is basically taking a “it depends on what the meaning of ‘executive branch’ is” approach to federal law.
Stay tuned.
