How has the model for the Manhattan Project led to executive branch unaccountability?
The model of the Manhattan Project was unaccountable money and no accountability to Congress, since it was outside not only congressional knowledge and political authorization but the military chain of command. Now the best example of that is that in the 1960s, people decided that the Presidential Succession Act—in which if the … government was killed by attacking the president or vice president, then there would be a succession to speaker of the House and to other members of the cabinet—wouldn’t work in case of nuclear attack. They said, “The speaker of the House doesn’t know how to [respond]. It’s a very complicated process.” So a group of cabinet and White House staffers was called and told in the middle of the night to go to an undisclosed location, and there they practiced how to respond to a nuclear attack. Now that actually happened when the twin towers were attacked. [Dick] Cheney had gone through that drill of instantaneous response without talking to Congress or anybody. He
Related Questions
- Does the definition of "court" include administrative hearing proceedings? Do the same requirements apply to the executive branch agencies responsible for conducting those hearings?
- Would FERCs authorizing the Elba III Project be consistent with other executive branch policies?
- What body represents the executive branch of the federal government?
