Mr. President, here we use checks and balancesRobyn E. Blumner, St. Petersburg Times, 11/19Vice President Dick Cheney has already said he's not going to cooperate. He told ABC News on Nov. 5 that if he got subpoenaed by Congress he'd probably refuse to show up.
"Obviously, we'd sit down and look at it at the time," Cheney said. "But (I'd) probably not (appear), in the sense that the president (and) vice president are constitutional officers and don't appear before Congress."
This isn't much of a surprise coming from Mr. Undisclosed Location, and the more momentous question will involve whether Cheney also intends to hold back documents that Congress seeks. But Cheney's contempt for Congress' oversight authority and his presumption of unreviewable executive prerogative is a pervasive one throughout the administration. This means, expect a coming constitutional crisis.
It has been a hallmark of this administration that it has taken special pains to limit the flow of information to congressional overseers, and a pliant Republican-led Congress has not made much of a fuss.
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