House Leaders Warn Obama on Signing Statements

George W. Bush received a lot of criticism from a lot of people. That is an understatement. Much of the criticism echoed a sentiment that his administration repeatedly operated with a great deal of hubris. One area where this hubris was evident in his use of Presidential signing statements.

Signing statements have been used by Presidents for a long time. However, it has been recent administrations which have begun to push the envelope. A signing statement is authored to accompany the passage of legislation. Presidents have used them to challenge the constitutionality of legislation as well as indicate the administrations' plans to downright ignore certain provisions therein. This has been viewed by many as an attempt by the Executive Branch to ignore the divisions of power vested in the Constitution.

Well, Obama, who was highly critical of his predecessor's use of signing statements, has, like just about every other President, decided to build upon his predecessors' interpretation of executive power. However, some people, even Democrats are openly critical.

With the passage of H.R. 2346, the famous "Omnibus Bill", Obama issued a signing statement which included the following (full text here):

However, provisions of this bill within sections 1110 to 1112 of title XI, and sections 1403 and 1404 of title XIV, would interfere with my constitutional authority to conduct foreign relations by directing the Executive to take certain positions in negotiations or discussions with international organizations and foreign governments, or by requiring consultation with the Congress prior to such negotiations or discussions. I will not treat these provisions as limiting my ability to engage in foreign diplomacy or negotiations.

Barney Frank (D-MA) and three other members of the House who chair various committees authored a letter to Obama expressing their concern with his use of a signing statement with this bill. Consider the following (full text here):

During the previous administration, all of us were critical of the President’s assertion that he could pick and choose which aspects of congressional statutes he was required to enforce. We were therefore chagrined to see you appear to express a similar attitude.

I'm not going to attempt to render any of my own constitutional judgment to Obama's actions. However, I am very skeptical of any attempt to usurp the Constitution's intended balance of powers. Kudos to the Democrats willing to call out Obama on the same.

For your further reading pleasure, consider Obama's March 9 memo regarding how the administration plans to use signing statements.