Speaking Out Against Presidential Signing Statements
October 25th, 2008
The United States of America is a uniquely strong country because we ensure no one branch of government has too much power. That’s why we are disappointed that last week the administration issued two signing statements that ignore this fundamental principle.
Soon, a new president will be signing legislation into law. We urge both presidential candidates to respect our Constitution and resist using signing statements as a substitute for either negotiation with Congress or exercise of veto power.
The practice of using signing statements to state objections to laws that the president believes are unconstitutional has been around for many years, but accelerated alarmingly during the present administration. It raises grave questions about our constitutional system of government and its delicate system of checks and balances.
The president has a constitutional duty to faithfully uphold the laws of the land. If the president believes that proposed legislation violates the Constitution, he is bound by the oath of office to resist its passage—by expressing those concerns to Congress, and by vetoing legislation that is constitutionally flawed.
What a president cannot do is sign a law and then ignore it, or pick and choose the parts he likes. Article I of the Constitution, the so-called “presentment clause,” decrees that a president must accept or reject a law as a whole. The Supreme Court reaffirmed this as recently as 1998.
Presidents have several ways to object to a bill considered unconstitutional. First, the president should negotiate with Congress to remove objectionable language. Second, it is his duty—under his oath to defend the Constitution—to veto laws that violate it.
The ABA urges that the next president limit the use of signing statement to those that express his views regarding the meaning of bills presented by Congress. This will help to restore the rule of law and the Constitution, and the system of checks and balances on which our democracy was built.
By respecting the separation of powers, our next president will affirm both the power and the responsibility of the executive branch to faithfully execute the laws of the land.
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