Mr. President, here we use checks and balances

[teach1st]

Mr. President, here we use checks and balances
Robyn E. Blumner, St. Petersburg Times, 11/19

Vice 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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[annabanana]

1. So when he IS subpoenad. . . The Capitol Police

will have to be available to drag his sorry ass in.

[Boston Critic]

2. No, alas, Cheney is right

The President and Vice President -- as the elected officers of a co-equal branch of government -- cannot be forced to testify before Congress. Most presidents (and VPs) never do. You'll note that even at the height of the Republican feeding frenzy, Congress could not compel Clinton's testimony.
Why could he be compelled to testify in judicial proceedings, then? I'll leave that the Constitutional scholars. Suffice to say whether by law or tradition, subpoenas to *testify* before Congress are not issued to the president or vice president. The last president to VOLUNTARILY testify before Congress was, IIRC, Gerald Ford.

The issue is different from subpoenas to produce documents. There Cheney doesn't have much of a leg to stand on (though he'll scream "executive privilege") and in the end he will have to cough up much of what is demanded.

[DavidDvorkin]

3. If the document issue ends up in the Supreme Court

Then we don't know what will happen.