Palin Says Vice President "In Charge Of" Senate

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Palin Says Vice President "In Charge Of" Senate

October 22, 2008 7:51 AM

ABC News’ Imtiyaz Delawala and Z. Byron Wolf Report: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said in a local interview that the vice president is "in charge of" the U.S. Senate and "can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes" – the second time she has claimed a more expansive role for the vice president than the U.S. Constitution outlines.

On Monday while in Colorado, Palin taped an interview with Denver NBC affiliate KUSA. At the end of the interview, she was asked to participate in the station's "Questions from the Third Grade" series, in which candidates have fielded questions from local elementary school students.

"Brandon Garcia wants to know, 'What does the Vice President do?'" Palin was asked.

"That's something that Piper would ask me, as a second grader, also," Palin responded, referencing her seven-year-old daughter.

"A vice president has a really great job because not only are they there to support the president's agenda, they're there like the team member, the teammate to the president," Palin continued. “But also, they're in charge of the United States Senate, so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom. And it's a great job and I look forward to having that job.”

While the Vice President does serve as president of the Senate, according to the U.S. Constitution, the vice president’s role is fairly limited to casting tie-breaking votes.

Article I of the Constitution states that "The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided."

In recent years, the role has been largely ceremonial. Vice President Dick Cheney has cast just eight tie-breaking votes during the Bush administration. Most recently in March, Vice President Cheney broke a tie on a procedural motion whether to consider an amendment that would have rolled back tax rates for the alternative minimum tax.

The vice president can also preside over floor debate in the Senate -- a role usually filled by the Senate president pro tempore, and more often done by first-term senators.

Palin was also asked the role of the vice president in her debate earlier this month with Senator Joe Biden, where she cited the vice president's role presiding over the Senate as a way to "exert a bit more authority" to work with the Senate on the president’s agenda.

"I'm thankful the Constitution would allow a bit more authority given to the vice president if that vice president so chose to exert it in working with the Senate and making sure that we are supportive of the president's policies and making sure too that our president understands what our strengths are," Palin said in the debate.

When asked to explain her remarks in an interview with Fox News the day after the debate, Plain reiterated her position that overseeing the Senate would give her "a tremendous amount of flexibility and authority" to work with the Senate.

"The vice president, of course, is not a member, or a part of the legislative branch, except to oversee the Senate," Palin told Fox News' Carl Cameron. "That alone provides a tremendous amount of flexibility and authority if that vice president so chose to use it."

Critics have charged that Palin’s remarks signal an intent to try to exert more influence than the vice president should have. But Palin added in her Fox News interview that a McCain-Palin administration had no intention of "bleeding our authority" over the legislative branch.

"Our executive branch will know what our job is," Palin said. "We have the three very distinct branches of government. You know, we won’t be bleeding our authority over to the legislative or judicial branch to do our job in the executive branch as administers."

Palin's vice presidential rival Sen. Joe Biden, has also said that he would seek to use his role as vice president to work actively with the Senate – a body he has served in since 1972. When asked by CBS News' Katie Couric which vice president impresses him the most, Biden named Lyndon Johnson, who served as vice president during President John F. Kennedy’s first term.

"He was able to be a significant facilitator of a new frontier, new policy. People in the Congress knew him, knew he knew a lot," Biden said. "And so I hope one of my roles as vice president will be as the person actually implementing Barack Obama's policy. You gotta get the Congress to go along with it. And it's presumptuous to say, but I know it pretty well. And I think I am fairly respected on both sides of the aisle."

ABC News' Michael Bradley contributed reporting to this story.

October 22, 2008 in Clinton, Hillary, Obama, Barack, Palin, Sarah, Vote 2008: Democrats, Vote 2008: Republicans | Permalink | User Comments (404)

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McCain and Camp have made a mockery of our political process by choosing Palin as his running mate. This has got to be a gimmick and we are just dreaming right? This is outrageous!

Posted by: ncharge | Oct 22, 2008 8:27:04 AM

Um, she was answering the question for a third grader! Geez, people. How would you respond to a political question from a 9 year old? She was putting it in simple terms since the question was from a child. The headline is misleading because it is taken out of context.

Posted by: Kathy | Oct 22, 2008 8:27:27 AM

I see it is wrong when Palin says it but okay if Biden says it...got it.

Posted by: samhiguchi | Oct 22, 2008 8:27:32 AM

So the Constitution has explicit limits and is not open for intrepretaion? Exactly what does "preside" mean in this context. Given the supporters of the "Living Constitution" usually say that the constitution should be intrepreted based on "the times" then preside can mean anything the VP wants it to if the Supreme Court agrees. Afterall, there is no right to privacy explicitly stated in the constitution, nor is there judicial review.

Posted by: Strictconstitutionalist | Oct 22, 2008 8:28:03 AM

I am voting for Obama and don't agree with Sarah Palin's social policies but I think this is nitpicking. She was trying to speak down to a child using terms he would understand. There are far better things to knock her for, I think this is just pushing it.

Posted by: pearl42160 | Oct 22, 2008 8:28:04 AM

This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2007)
Vice President of the
United States

Official seal

Incumbent
Richard Bruce Cheney
since January 20, 2001
Residence Number One Observatory Circle
Inaugural holder John Adams
Formation April 20, 1789
The Vice President of the United States[1] is the first person in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new President of the United States upon the death, resignation, or removal of the president, should he or she accept the position. Every presidential term ends on January 20 of the year immediately after a presidential election. As designated by the Constitution of the United States, the vice president also serves as the President of the Senate, and may break tie votes in that chamber.[2] He or she may be assigned additional duties by the president but, as the Constitution assigns no executive powers to the vice president, in performing such duties he or she acts only as an agent of the president

Here you go all you know it alls

Posted by: reddog0216 | Oct 22, 2008 8:28:06 AM

Palin is George Bush in drag.

Posted by: sara castic | Oct 22, 2008 8:28:39 AM

There is nothing in the constitution that the Vice -President has to sit in their chair and be a stump. The vice-president can mix with senators and get a feel of what the senators are thinking. If Joe Biden prefers to just sit in his chair like a stump that is his choice. Sarah Palin would rather be active and mix with the action. There is nothing in the constitution that the vice-president cannot mix with the senators and hold conversations. That is all Sarah is relating to and nothing more like some idiots read into that which she says.

Posted by: BlackJack | Oct 22, 2008 8:29:26 AM

For once in this campaign everybody is right:
This is unfair petty criticism.
The media is biased.
Palin is a disasterous choice for VP.

Posted by: votesmart | Oct 22, 2008 8:32:07 AM

Words have meaning - go look them up- if your gonna say it then state it rightly and quit doing so ambiguously. She is a danger to us all - the same old GOP expansion of power - hell let's just re-write the constitution so she can be correct in what she says.

Posted by: jozy | Oct 22, 2008 8:32:22 AM

Keep up the propaganda ABC. Your relentless campaign to make this woman appear incompetent is stunning. In your article you state "the Vice President does serve as president of the Senate, according to the U.S. Constitution." That's exactly what she said.

Where is your article about Joe Biden incorrectly describing the role in the VP debate after spending 35 years in the Senate?

You guys are truly sickening.

Posted by: steve | Oct 22, 2008 8:23:29 AM

Hey Steve,
I have a little secret for you..............She does that all by herself!

Posted by: Jwench | Oct 22, 2008 8:33:22 AM

Professorj- do you really think it's despicable? Tell us more about your understanding of losing a wife and daughter. Is there a different kind of car accident that you would like to describe to make Biden's portrayal of his personal tragedy more politically palatable?

Posted by: professorq | Oct 22, 2008 8:33:30 AM

is this idiot for real am not even an american and I know what the Constitution says about the Vice President role this woman should go back to grade school, What do you expect from somebody that belonged to the AIP, her and her husband never believed that Alaska is part of the Us territory

Posted by: joseph | Oct 22, 2008 8:33:37 AM

A definition for the ignorant: Presides over the senate means, be officially in charge, have control. That is all Sarah stated and nothing more.

Posted by: BlackJack | Oct 22, 2008 8:33:45 AM

The media is not as biased as you think
(Except for Fox News)
Their agenda is to make $$$ money questioning whoever is in power
They didn't hold back on the Monica Lewinsky story to protect the Democrats...It was on the news
every day all day long. Why?
BECAUSE IT SOLD PAPERS AND AIRTIME

Posted by: jonny | Oct 22, 2008 8:35:42 AM

Republicains can try as hard as they want, they will never make Palin look smart. Let's face it, the girl is DUMB.
She is an embarrassment for America

Posted by: Dan | Oct 22, 2008 8:36:04 AM

Steve,
This is what she said
"“But also, they're in charge of the United States Senate, so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom"

Correct me if I am wrong, but she has no authority to make policy changes, only to break a tie.

Posted by: Jwench | Oct 22, 2008 8:36:33 AM

Do you know who is going to get rich? The first one of Palin's tutors who writes a book about his or her experience.

Posted by: Curtis Rode | Oct 22, 2008 8:36:35 AM

Sorry Sarah,....it's a moot point because you're gonna lose in November anyway.
Don't mess up your "Do" on the pickup truck's gun rack on the way back to Alaska,....Heh-Heh!

Posted by: Olddog | Oct 22, 2008 8:36:43 AM

Posted by: jonny | Oct 22, 2008 8:35:42 AM

And we still love Bill :)

Posted by: Jwench | Oct 22, 2008 8:37:58 AM

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