And While We’re at It, Let’s Take Away Their Security Clearance

Mimikatz already posted Rahm’s first response to Cheney’s wicked theories that he is a branch of government unto himself. And mcjoan has posted his second response.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel issued the followingstatement regarding his amendment to cut funding for the Office of  theVice President from the bill that funds the executive branch. Thelegislation – the Financial Services and General GovernmentAppropriations bill — will be considered on the floor of the House ofRepresentatives next week.

"The Vice President has a choice to make. If he believes his legalcase, his office has no business being funded as part of the executivebranch. However, if he demands executive branch funding he cannotignore executive branch rules. At the very least, the Vice Presidentshould be consistent. This amendment will ensure that the VicePresident’s funding is consistent with his legal arguments. I haveworked closely with my colleagues on this amendment and will continueto pursue this measure in the coming days."

But I’d like to call attention to the recommendation Bill Leonard made last year when wrestling with these creeps.

Furthermore, if OVP is not to be considered an entity within the executive branch, I am concerned that this could possibly impede access to classified information by OVP staff, since such access would be considered a disclosure outside the executive branch. [my emphasis]

For the record, I’ve seen Leonard speak twice. He strikes me as a diligent, frustrated straight-shooter–if this is snark, it is sawdust dry. But I think we could have some fun if we find some way to threaten those sending OVP classified information with violations of their security clearance. Think about it–they won’t be able to start their Iran war without targeting information. Condi might manage to shut down Gitmo if Cheney remains uninformed of the meetings to shut it down.

There’s the problem that, so long as Bush is willing to put up with Cheney’s little theories, executive branch agencies (the ones with all the classified info, after all) would get beat up if they refuse Cheney information. Still–it’s a worthy idea, one the bureaucrats sick of Cheney’s reign might enjoy.