End the Use of Signing Statements

Most high school students learn about the wonders of our three-branch government at some point in their education. They are also told of the system of checks and balances that prevents the over-accumulation of power in the hands of any one individual or body.

But what is not often included in such lessons is a crucial caveat to the separation of powers: the presidential signing statement. Thanks to the burgeoning use of signing statements—by which the president instructs the executive branch to effectively ignore some parts of a bill—our carefully crafted system is being systematically undermined. Indeed, President George W. Bush has frequently used the practice of signing statements to bypass laws throughout his term, a practice that went virtually unnoticed for five years.

To that end, we commend Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain, who last week vowed to eliminate the practice of signing statements if elected. We hope the presidential candidates of both parties will issue a similar pledge that they will not skirt the Constitution.

The Bush administration’s abuse of signing statements has corroded the checks and balances of our government by quietly expanding the power of the executive branch. It took a Pulitzer Prize-winning exposé by Charles C. Savage ’98 in The Boston Globe to unearth that Bush had claimed the authority to ignore more than 750 laws enacted between 2001 and 2006—laws regulating everything from affirmative action to torture.

This power grab is a clear violation of the spirit of our Constitution that undermines the authority of Congress to legislate. Effectively making an end-run around the unconstitutionality of line-item vetoes, it concentrates far too much power in the presidency, which is disconcerting no matter who is occupying the White House. Although legal scholars may be able to dream up fancy justifications for such actions, signing statements fly in the face of common sense and basic civics. We hope their use is discontinued.

McCain’s willingness to denounce signing statements as “wrong” is laudable. Although Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson and Republican candidate Ron Paul have also showed their contempt for signing statements and others have criticized the Bush administration’s use of signing statements, it is disconcerting that other major candidates have not made their position on the practice crystal clear. We hope that both Democrats and Republicans will follow McCain’s lead.