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Apparently to further strengthen the council, Ford added the heads of his Economic Policy Board and his Energy Resources Council to its membership. The council, whose membership also includes all the Cabinet Secretaries except those of State and Defense, rarely meets as a body, but its staff is highly influential. Ford said the council will assess the nation's domestic needs on both a short-term and long-term basis, set national priorities and provide options for meeting those needs. Cannon will be able to report directly to the President whenever he wishes. Thus the council's role is potentially powerful, although it must contend with the Office of Management and Budget, which puts practical funding limits on programs. Under Nixon, the Domestic Council was used by its director, John Ehrlichman, as a rigid barrier between the departments and the President.
Rockefeller seems far too sensitive to his touchy political situation to similarly push Cabinet members around. "Nobody can get between the President and his Cabinet, and nobody can get between the President and his staff without destroying his usefulness," Rocky insists. Ford's men are equally aware of the potential for high-level friction, but express optimism. "This is an ongoing experiment and unique policy in having complete harmony and concord between the President and his Vice President," observes Presidential Counsellor Robert Hartmann. "A great many around this town believe this is impossible. But the President believes that you trust your Vice President and you trust your Vice President's men." It should be indeed a fascinating experiment, and if it works, help alter the tradition that, as Finley Peter Dunne's Mr. Dooley put it, the Vice President is a man whose main concern is "lookin' afther th' prisidint's health."