Cheney tells Congress to buzz off
Yesterday morning on ABC, journalist George Stephanopoulos asked Vice President Dick Cheney if he will appear before Congress if they subpoena him. His response? In short, "No."
From ThinkProgress ...
So, the question is, will Cheney start a power war with Congress? How much damage will this cause to our system of checks and balances? Has there ever been a case of a Vice President conducting himself in direct contravention to the orders of the Congress? I suppose we'll find out in the coming months, mostly because the new Democratic Majority is all but assured.STEPHANOPOULOS: You’ve talked a lot about the consequences of the Democrats taking over congress in the last week. Nancy Pelosi said this: “we win, speaking of the democrat, we get subpoena power.” If you’re subpoenaed by the Democrats, would you go?
CHENEY: I have no idea that i’m going to be subpoenaed. Obviously, we’d sit down and look at it at the time. But probably not in the sense at that Vice President and President and constitutional officers don’t appear before the Congress.
STEPHANOPOULOS: That’s your view of executive power? You’re not going to go up and testify?
CHENEY: I think that’s been the tradition. I can’t remember the last time a President did appear before the Congress. Or a Vice President.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Gerald Ford, I think.
