President Bush’s excessive abuse of signing statements has drawn a stern and well-deserved rebuke from the American Bar Association.
On hundreds of occasions (often under the guise of homeland security), Bush has issued what are known as signing statements – documents that seem to give him authority to ignore or not enforce new laws or provisions in bills passed by the GOP-controlled Congress.
Presidents dating back to Andrew Jackson have occasionally rejected provisions in laws they didn’t like or figured to be unconstitutional. But Bush has abused the process, issuing more than any president in a King George-style attempt to expand presidential powers.
A bipartisan panel of scholars and lawyers recently said Bush’s actions flout the Constitution and undermine the rule of law.
Bush, who never cast a veto until last week’s shameful veto on human embryonic stem-cell research, has been using signing statements as a de facto line-item veto. (The Supreme Court in 1998 ruled the line-item veto, granted by Congress two years earlier, unconstitutional.)
His use of signing statements, picking and choosing the provisions of laws he intends to flout, appears to be nothing more than a usurpation of power.
If he actually vetoes a law, Congress at least has the chance to override it. It’s part of the checks and balances of a democracy.
“We will be close to a constitutional crisis if this issue, the president’s use of signing statements, is left unchecked,” said ABA president Michael Greco.
The bar association panel urged Congress to pass a law requiring the president to “set forth in full the reasons and legal basis” for any signing statement. The panel also suggested legislation to provide for judicial review of signing statements, which would be a welcome step toward curtailing future abuses.
Bush has used signing statements like a weapon, threatening to knock down Congress’ intent in crafting such laws as a ban on torture, a request for data on the USA Patriot Act and a ban on U.S. troops fighting rebels in Colombia. The White House contends presidents have used signing statements since the beginning of our country. That’s true, but by some counts, Bush has issued more than all previous presidents combined – in just six years in office.
That smells like a pattern of abuse.
