Dems force Cheney to flip-flop on secret docs

Dick Cheney's office is abandoning a justification for keeping the vice president's secret papers out of the hands of the National Archives, while asserting a new argument for withholding them.
Officials working for Cheney had tried to claim he is separate from the executive branch, but they will no longer pursue that defense, senior administration officials tell The Politico.
The decision follows a threat by Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), the No. 3 House Democrat, to try to cut off the office's $4.8 million in executive-branch funding, and a letter from Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) asking for the reasoning behind the argument.
The dispute arose after House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) posted an eight-page letter he had written to Cheney taking issue with what he said was an assertion by the vice president's office last year that he is "not an 'entity within the executive branch' and hence is not subject to presidential executive orders." The vice president also serves as president of the Senate, a function that is part of the legislative branch.
At issue was an executive order giving the National Archives oversight over the government's handling of classified information.

Read all about it at The Politico.