Reversing his position on signing statements
President Obama is renegging on his campaign promise to not use signing statements, which during the campaign he called unconstitutional.
President Obama today said he would use signing statements when approving legislation sent to him by Congress, while at the same time telling all members of his administration to submit President George W. Bush’s signing statements to the Justice Department for review before enforcing them.
From the New York Times:
Calling into question the legitimacy of all the signing statements that former President George W. Bush used to challenge new laws, President Obama ordered executive officials on Monday to consult with Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. before relying on any of them to bypass a statute.
But Mr. Obama also signaled that he intended to use signing statements himself if Congress sent him legislation with provisions he decided were unconstitutional. He promised to take a modest approach when using the statements, legal documents issued by a president the day he signs bills into law that instruct executive officials how to put the statutes into effect. But Mr. Obama said there was a role for the practice if used appropriately.
“In exercising my responsibility to determine whether a provision of an enrolled bill is unconstitutional, I will act with caution and restraint, based only on interpretations of the Constitution that are well-founded,” Mr. Obama wrote in a memorandum to the heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch.
While signing statements have been used by every president going back to Andrew Jackson, Obama promised during the campaign to not use them and he called them unconstitutional.
Read carefully what then-candidate Obama said during the rally in Grand Junction, Colo., on May 20, 2008. When asked by an audience member, “When Congress offers you a bill, do you promise not to use presidential signage to get your way?”
Instead of giving his “above my paygrade” answer, the president quickly answered “YES,” then he explained:
Congress’s job is to pass legislation. The president can veto it or he can sign it.
But what George Bush has been trying to do as part of his effort to accumulate more power in the presidency is he’s been saying, “Well, I can basically change what congress passed by attaching a letter saying ‘I agree with this part or I don’t agree with this part I’m gonna choose to interpret it this way or that way’”
That’s not part of his power. But this is part of the whole theory of George Bush — that he can make laws as he’s going along.
I disagree with that. I taught the Constitution for 10 years, I believe in the Constitution and I will obey the Constitution of the United States.
We’re not going to use signing statements as way of doing an end run around Congress, alright?
So much for that. Apparently signing statements are unconstitutional for George W. Bush, but constitutional for Barack Obama.
Source:
The New York Times, March 9, 2009
Obama Looks to Limit Impact of Tactic Bush Used to Sidestep New Laws
