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Monday, March 09, 2009
Law - "Don’t Rely on Bush’s Signing Statements, Obama Orders"
Charlie Savage won a Pulitzer prize while writing about President Bush's signing statements for the Boston Globe.
Now he has moved on to the NY Times and has this story today, that begins:
WASHINGTON — Calling into question the legitimacy of all the signing statements that former President George W. Bush used to challenge new laws, President Obama on Monday ordered executive officials 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 intends to use signing statements himself if Congress sends him legislation that has provisions he decides are unconstitutional. He pledged to use a modest approach when doing so, but 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.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 9, 2009 02:12 PM
Posted to General Law Related