Does the Constitution provide Executive Privilege for a President or Vice President?
Moderate Republican. The Constitution is vague on a lot of things including this matter. For example, the Constitution says “The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.” Now how far does this go? The Executive Power can mean a lot of things like the power of “Commander-in-Chief.” Both of these clauses have been used to justify Executive Privilege, but the clause that has the most importance is this one: “he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices.” Like many things in the Constitution, there is vagueness and tension built in to check the powers of one branch against another. It is up to the respective branches to agree on something resembling boundaries.
