Above the law?

Conflicts between Congress and the executive branch over checks and balances are not unusual. During the Clinton administration, for instance, the Republican Congress had to turn to the courts to get the White House to comply with more than one legislative request.

So it should be no surprise that a Democratic Congress is now clashing with a Republican administration over jurisdictional bounds.

The controversy involves a requirement that the executive branch provide information on how much material they classify and declassify. The data is to be given to The National Archives.

Dick Cheney is maintaining that the vice president's office is not an executive branch "agency" as defined by the law and is therefore exempt from the mandate.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has been asked to weigh in on the legal dispute, but has yet to issue a ruling.

"The vice president is saying he's above the law, and the fact of the matter is, legal scholars are going to say this is preposterous," said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

As evidence that the vice president's position may not be tenable, Republicans were only lukewarm in their defense of Mr. Cheney.

"I don't think that the vice president, with all due respect to everyone, is saying that the law doesn't apply to him or that he's above the law," said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas. "I think there are some legal interpretations. We have to look at those."

Why? What is the point of Mr. Cheney and his staff playing games with the law's language -- it depends on what the meaning of "is" is? Sound familiar?

The office of the vice president is clearly part of the executive branch, which the law is intended to cover. This type of silliness only gives ammunition to White House critics and serves no real purpose. Mr. Cheney should back down.