In response to Josh’s post about the release of the newest edition of the Plum Book, several readers have commented on the entry devoted to the Office of the Vice President:
The Vice Presidency is a unique office that is neither a part of the executive branch nor a part of the legislative branch, but is attached by the Constitution to the latter. The Vice Presidency performs functions in both the legislative branch (see article I, section 3 of the Constitution) and in the executive branch (see article II, and amendments XII and XXV, of the Constitution, and section 106 of title 3 of the United States Code).
We first noted this odd entry early last year in the previous edition of the Plum Book, and reported how it was a departure from previous vice presidential entries. At the time, Cheney’s office would not even confirm the number of staff it employed.
You might recall that the Cheney/Addington view of a fourth branch became an issue about a year ago when it was revealed that the OVP had used that argument to try to avoid oversight by the National Archives of how it handled classified materials. In a classic Cheney knife-fighting move, he subsequently tried to eliminate funding for the National Archives office that raised the issue.
This heretofore unknown constitutional wrinkle will not be an issue when Joe Biden is sworn in. “The vice president is part of the executive branch, period. End of story,” a Biden spokesman said during the campaign.
I think TNR has this just right …
The greatest risk for Democrats is not that Obama will try to do too much, but that their terror of failure will lead them to waste an historic opportunity. This is not a Clintonian moment. It is more like the moment Lyndon Johnson inherited in 1965, or the one Franklin Roosevelt faced in 1933–a chance to reshape American government. The Democrats have it in their grasp to master the great problems of public life if they can summon their collective nerve. The only thing they have to fear is fear itself.
This is why, perhaps paradoxically, I’m not overly concerned at the rumored cabinet appointments that have some people worried. For a strong-willed president, cabinet officers are there to execute the president’s vision and plan. And experience in government is an asset in execution, if it can be detriment to breadth of vision and ambition.
Obama promised big things; and I take him at his word.
(Hat tip to Sullivan for the link.)
The Obama transition team announces its internet outreach staff.
From a senate staffer …
Understand that on the Hill, after Rummy, Gates was like a blast of fresh air. People found him candid and responsive (as opposed to arrogant and dismissive). I think most Democratic senators actually like and respect him, and most staff seem comfortable with keeping him on for some defined period.
Maybe that’s a sad reflection of how low Rummy set the bar — that we celebrate mere competence and professionalism — but there you go.
Roll Call says Biden’s picking Ron Klain to be his Veep Chief of Staff.
For those interested in cinematic trivia, Klain was the guy Kevin Spacey played in HBO’s Recount.
The last counting of absentee ballots has Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) down to a 971 vote margin over Mark Begich. The vote counters got through about half the absentee and questioned ballots today; and it took Stevens’ margin from over 3k to just under 1k. More counting tomorrow.
Thanks to TPM Reader SP for the tip.
Late WTF Update: TPM Reader sends word that LS sends on word that Begich is now ahead by 3 votes. And she sends along the the link to the state of Alaska elections site that appears to confirm this.
No Question About it Update: Yep, the ADN confirms it. Begich by three votes.
How Cow Update: Man, you guys are on this like friggin’ hawks. LS got to the send button first. But if our inbox is any indicator a lot of TPMers are all over this.
I don’t know anyone more wired about what’s going on in the foreign policy and national security world than Chris Nelson of the Nelson Report, a DC insider sheet on foreign & defense policy and international trade. And in tonight’s edition he seems quite confident that Gates is staying on at the Pentagon “well into next year, if not also through completion of the pivot from Iraq to Afghanistan/Pakistan.”
Via this TPM Reader blog, I found out that Beliefnet.com has just published the full transcript of an interview Obama gave in March 2004 to the then-religion reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times, Cathleen Falsani. The interview is principally about Obama’s religious beliefs but also, inevitably, draws in many other issues.