Dick Cheney & the Fourth Branch of Government

In 1995 President Clinton issued Executive Order 12958, “Classified National Security Information,” which was then amended in March 2003 by President Bush. This order “prescribes a system for classifying, safeguarding, and declassifying national security information.” These responsibilities are given to the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) which is a part of the National Archives, and an important part of their job is to conduct on-site inspection of agencies’ information programs. The executive order authorizes inspections of ALL executive branch agencies to monitor their compliance with rules for protecting classified information.

In 2004 the National Archives notified the Office of the Vice President (OVP) that they would be conducting their on-site inspection of the office, but Cheney blocked this inspection. The OVP told the National Archives that it was not “bound by the executive order” and would not allow the Archives to inspect the procedures or facilities used to classify national security information. In fact, the OVP has not provided any data on its classification and declassification activities since 2003.

In June 2006, a letter was sent from OVP saying that they were not an “entity within the executive branch.” So the ISOO requested that the Attorney General (Alberto Gonzales) decide if the executive order applies to the VP’s office. Cheney responded to the request by recommending that this executive order be changed to abolish the ISOO. Perfect solution.

Since when is the Vice President not part of the executive branch of government? Is there some fourth branch of government I wasn’t aware of? School House Rock doesn’t mention it. Neither does the Constitution. In a letter from the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform they say that “it would appear particularly irresponsible to give an office with your [Cheney’s] history of security breaches an exemption from the safeguards that apply to all other executive branch officials.” This letter includes 12 questions for the OVP about their classification procedures. The OVP has yet to respond.

::update::

Keith Olbermann had his staff fact-check White House claims, and there are no exemptions for the Office of the Vice President.

::update::

Representative Rahm Emanuel's answer to Cheney's claims: "If he believes his legal case, his office has no business being funded as part of the executive branch, however, if he demands executive branch funding he cannot ignore executive branch rules." He plans to introduce legislation that will force Cheney to make a decision.

::update::

Surprise surprise. According to the LA Times, Bush has claimed oversight exemption as well.

Sources:

http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20070621093952.pdf

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

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