From the House Government Oversight Committee (.pdf):

The Oversight Committee has learned that over the objections of the National Archives, Vice President Cheney exempted his office from the presidential order that establishes government-wide procedures for safeguarding classified national security information. The Vice President asserts that his office is not an "entity within the executive branch."

As described in a letter from Chairman Waxman to the Vice President, the National Archives protested the Vice President's position in letters written in June 2006 and August 2006. When these letters were ignored, the National Archives wrote to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in January 2007 to seek a resolution of the impasse. The Vice President's staff responded by seeking to abolish the agency within the Archives that is responsible for implementing the President's executive order.

In his letter to the Vice President, Chairman Waxman writes: "I question both the legality and wisdom of your actions. ... [I]t would appear particularly irresponsible to give an office with your history of security breaches an exemption from the safeguards that apply to all other executive branch officials."

More from Federation of American Scientists' Steve Aftergood:

The Office of Vice President Dick Cheney proposed to abolish the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), the executive branch organization that oversees the national security classification system, after its Director insisted that the Vice President comply with reporting requirements that apply to all executive branch entities.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), the chairman of the House Oversight Committee (oversight.house.gov) who revealed the move today, said in a letter to the Vice President that it "could be construed as retaliation" against ISOO.

http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2007_cr/waxman062107.pdf

The proposed change in ISOO's status was ultimately rejected by an interagency review group which is considering revisions to the executive order on classification policy.

The dispute between ISOO and the Office of the Vice President was prompted by a complaint filed with ISOO by the Federation of American Scientists in May 2006 (Secrecy News, 05/31/06). The FAS complaint noted that the OVP had ceased to comply with its obligation to submit an annual report on classification and declassification activity, and asked the ISOO Director to enforce the requirement.

When the OVP continued to resist compliance, ISOO Director J. William Leonard formally asked the Attorney General in January 2007 to intervene and to render an interpretation of the executive that would resolve the dispute in one direction or another. ...

It is hard as an American to not be frankly suspicious of public officials who clearly are so hostile to public scrutiny, Congressional oversight, the National Archives, and the like. What are they so anxious to hide? History suggests we will find out, whatever their legal theories of the moment (the office of the vice president is not part of the executive branch?), just like we learned about Cheney's chief of staff whispering in a friendly New York Times's reporter's ear in a hotel lounge, at Cheney's direction, and with the president's apparent nod, and Libby leaking Wolfie the still classified NIE to give to the Wall Street Journal editorial page. More on the OVP's theory that it is not an executive agency when it doesn't want to be from David Kurtz.

Posted by Laura at June 21, 2007 11:39 AM