David Addington

Or so it was proposed in this illuminating exchange from yesterday’s hearing of the House Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, in which Rep. Steve Cohen asks David Addington, the chief of staff and former counsel to Vice President Dick Cheney, whether the vice president belongs to the legislative or executive branch. (Because the vice president’s official constitutional role is as president of the Senate, Cheney has argued that he is not a member of the executive branch and therefore he is not covered by certain oversight laws.)

Addington:Sir, perhaps the best that can be said is that the vice president belongs neither to the executive nor to the legislative branch but is “attached by the Constitution to the latter,” closed quote. That’s from two legal opinions issued by the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice dated March 9th, 1961 and April, I believe it’s 18th, 1961…