The Unitary Vice President

Realizations about the power and influence of Dick Cheney have begun to chill blood in some heavily-traveled byways of the blogosphere. Out here in the hinterlands, it began chilling mine some time ago.

Talking Points Memo and TPM Muckraker discovered recently that the Office of the Vice President considers itself under the authority of neither the legislative branch, nor the executive branch, but drawing power from its relationship to each. In a directory of government agencies, Muckraker reports, the OVP describes itself in the following manner:

The Vice Presidency is a unique office that is neither a part of the executive branch nor a part of the legislative branch, but is attached by the Constitution to the latter. The Vice Presidency performs functions in both the legislative branch (see article I, section 3 of the Constitution) and in the executive branch (see article II, and amendments XII and XXV, of the Constitution, and section 106 of title3 of the United States Code).

At the main TPM site, David Kurtz writes:

It sounds like something Cheney's current chief of staff, David Addington, might have written. Cheney and Addington have been the among the most powerful proponents of the theory of a "unitary executive," but there are indications that they have also advanced, though less publicly, a theory of a constitutionally distinct and independent vice presidency.

And at Hullabaloo, Digby is perfectly horrified.

WTF?

I had always known that Cheney was running the show, but I assumed he did it purely by using the power of the executive branch and manipulation of the presdient. I had no idea that he might have secretly carved out a previously unenumerated institution that derives its power from both the legislative and executive branches. What in the hell has really been going on in this administration?

The shock is understandable, but the revelation of, if I may, a Unitary Theory of Vice Presidential Power is not new. In fact, this blog took notice of it more than a year ago, when the OVP was fighting a secrecy battle over Dick Cheney's travel records.

On November 16, 2005, the following passage was included in a Center for Public Integrity news item about a report on the vice president's travel:

The private sector routinely covers the travel expenses associated with government officials' appearances – of which Cheney himself has made more than 275 since 2001 – at think tanks, trade organizations and universities around the world. When the private sector picks up the tab, however, federal law requires that officials report where they went, how much it cost, and who paid.

Yet since 2001, Cheney's office – unlike Vice President Al Gore before him – has claimed that it is not bound by the travel disclosure rules the rest of the White House complies with, the Center found. Letters from the vice president's counsel assert that the office is not "an agency" of the executive branch, but adds as "a matter of comity" that none of the staff has accepted travel payments from a non-federal source.

On the same day, I wrote:

The vice president's office is not an agency of the executive branch? Then, what is it? Does Cheney really fancy himself co-president as so many of his critics characterize him? This would explain a lot.

It would explain, for example, why Cheney assumed the authority to order military planes to shoot down civilian aircraft on September 11, 2001. It would explain why, this October, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan gave the impression that he did not have the authority to answer questions on behalf of the vice president.

Q Given the fact that the Vice President did say publicly in September of 2003 that he never knew about Joe Wilson or who sent him, as John points out, and now there appears to be information to contradict that, how do you explain that contradiction?

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, there's an ongoing investigation. There are many facts that are not known. I would encourage you not to engage in speculation. And on top of that, if there's any additional information that the Vice President's Office wants to provide you, you can direct questions there. But the policy of this White House has been not to comment on this investigation while it's ongoing. And it has been that way for some time.

This curious remark by McClellan makes perfect sense if, as reported, Cheney has established that his office is not an agency of the executive branch of the United States government.

Of course, if it is not, one could be forgiven for wondering just what on earth it is.

Thanks to the excellent reporting of the journalists at Muckraker, I have an answer to my question. I wish it gave me some comfort.