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A '''Signing statement''' is an official statement made by the President as he signs a bill into law that includes instructions to executive officials about how to interpret and put in place the new law. Such statements have been common since 1993.
A '''Signing statement''' is an official statement made by the President as he signs a bill into law that includes instructions to executive officials about how to interpret and put in place the new law. Such statements have been common since 1993.
While generating controversy they are seen by most experts as a legitimate tool of executive power because they are part and parcel of a given law's 'legislative history,' in that they reflect the administration's interpretation of legislation and because theoretically they can serve as executive orders to subordinate officials.
==Bush==
Liberals vehemently opposed the extensive use of signing statements by President [[George W. Bush]] after he used them to assert that he could authorize officials to bypass provisions that he considered unconstitutional in bills banning torture and in the oversight provisions of the USA Patriot Act. Candidate [[Barack Obama]] in 2008 denounced them as an abuse.
Liberals vehemently opposed the extensive use of signing statements by President [[George W. Bush]] after he used them to assert that he could authorize officials to bypass provisions that he considered unconstitutional in bills banning torture and in the oversight provisions of the USA Patriot Act. Candidate [[Barack Obama]] in 2008 denounced them as an abuse.
==Obama==
To the dismay of his liberal supporters, Obama has thus far issued five signing statements, claiming the authority to bypass dozens of provisions of bills enacted into law since he took office.
To the dismay of his liberal supporters, Obama has thus far issued five signing statements, claiming the authority to bypass dozens of provisions of bills enacted into law since he took office.
==Further reading==
==Further reading==
* Charles Savage, "Obama’s Embrace of a Bush Tactic Riles Congress," [http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/us/politics/09signing.html?_r=1 ''New York Times,'' Aug. 8, 2009]
* Cooper, Phillip J. "George W. Bush, Edgar Allan Poe, and the Use and Abuse of Presidential Signing Statements". ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 2005 35(3): 515-532 [http://www.pegc.us/archive/Articles/cooper_35_PSQ_515.pdf online]
* Kelley, Christopher S. and Bryan W. Marshall. "The Last Word: Presidential Power and the Role of Signing Statements." ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 2008 38(2): 248-267
* Savage, Charles. "Obama’s Embrace of a Bush Tactic Riles Congress," [http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/us/politics/09signing.html?_r=1 ''New York Times,'' Aug. 8, 2009]
* White House Memo, "The Legal Significance of Presidential Signing Statements" (1993) [http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/signing.htm online]
* White House Memo, "The Legal Significance of Presidential Signing Statements" (1993) [http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/signing.htm online]