Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel has come up with the right response to Dick Cheney’s attempt to suggest that the Office of the Vice President is not part of the executive branch.
The House Democratic Caucus chairman wants to take the Cheney at his word. Cheney says his office is "not an entity within the executive branch," so Emanuel wants to take away the tens of millions of dollars that are allocated to the White House to maintain it… If Cheney’s a member of the legislative branch, the Democratic Caucus chair suggests, the vice president won’t need all the money that currently goes to pay for his executive office, extensive staff and that secure undisclosed location that is so often his haunt. So Emanuel plans this week to offer an amendment to a spending bill that would defund the Office of the Vice President.
Of course, there would still be funding for the Office of the Senate President. But, let’s be frank, the rare tie-breaking duties and ceremonial administrative functions associated with that position won’t require more than a smidgen of the money that now goes to the vice president’s epic executive-branch operations.
"This amendment will ensure that the vice president’s funding is consistent with his legal arguments," say Emanuel, a former aide to President Clinton who, like Cheney, has served in both the legislative and executive branches.
You’re move, Little Dickie. This will also remove "Executive Privelege" from his vocabulary.
