President Bush has asserted that he is not necessarily bound by the bills he signs into law, and yesterday a congressional study found multiple examples in which the administration has not complied with the requirements of the new statutes. Bush has been criticized for his use of 'signing statements,' in which he invokes presidential authority to challenge provisions of legislation passed by Congress. The president has challenged a federal ban on torture, a request for data on the administration of the USA Patriot Act and numerous other assertions of congressional power. As recently as December, Bush asserted the authority to open U.S. mail without judicial warrants in a signing statement attached to a postal reform bill. (Washington Post, Tuesday)
An elective despotism was not the government we fought for. –Thomas Jefferson
FEE Timely Classic
The Sovereign Presidency: Is This What the Framers Had in Mind? by Joseph R. Stromberg