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22 

TRUMP v. UNITED STATES 

Opinion of the Court 

of the executive departments,’ to declare the President ‘un-
able to discharge the powers and duties of his office.’ ”  Frey-
tag v. Commissioner, 501 U. S. 868, 886–887 (1991) (quot-
ing Amdt. 25, §4).  And Article I of course names the Vice 
President as President of the Senate and gives him a tie-
breaking vote.  §3, cl. 4.  It is thus important for the Presi-
dent to discuss official matters with the Vice President to 
ensure continuity within the Executive Branch and to ad-
vance the President’s agenda in Congress and beyond.

The Vice President may in practice also serve as one of 
the President’s closest advisers.  The Office of Legal Coun-
sel  has  explained  that  within  the  Executive  Branch,  the 
Vice  President’s  “sole  function  [is]  advising  and  assisting 
the President.”  Whether the Office of the Vice President Is 
an ‘Agency’ for Purposes of the Freedom of Information Act,
18  Op.  OLC  10  (1994).  Indeed,  the  “Twelfth  Amendment 
was brought about” to avoid the “manifestly intolerable” sit-
uation that occurred “[d]uring the John Adams administra-
tion,” when “we had a President and Vice-President of dif-
ferent  parties.”  Ray  v.  Blair,  343  U. S.  214,  224,  n. 11 
(1952).  The President and Vice President together “are the
senior officials of the Executive Branch of government” and 
therefore  “must  formulate,  explain,  advocate,  and  defend 
policies” of the President’s administration.  Payment of Ex-
penses  Associated  With  Travel  by  the  President  and  Vice 
President, 6 Op. OLC 214, 215 (1982). 

As the President’s second in command, the Vice President 
has historically performed important functions “at the will
and as the representative of the President.”  Participation
of the Vice President in the Affairs of the Executive Branch, 
1 Supp. Op. OLC 214, 220 (1961).  President Woodrow Wil-
son’s Vice President, for instance, “presided over a few cab-
inet meetings while Wilson was in France negotiating” the
Treaty of Versailles after World War I.  H. Relyea, The Law: 
The Executive Office of the Vice President: Constitutional 
and Legal Considerations, 40 Presidential Studies Q. 327,