Obama rejects Bush's signing statements

By Frank James

Reporting from Washington — In another effort to undo acts by the previous administration, President Obama issued a memo Monday instructing executive branch officials to ignore Bush administration signing statements, the written assertions presidents sometimes make when signing bills that raise constitutional questions.

At the same time, Obama cited the guidelines he would follow in issuing his own signing statements.

He signaled that, unlike President George W. Bush, he would not use signing statements to do end runs around Congress.

According to one count, Bush issued 161 signing statements in which he cast doubt on more than 1,000 provisions in legislation and essentially stated his intention to ignore those parts of the law.

President Clinton issued significantly more signing statements, but Bush was more aggressive in making claims that the legislation in question would undermine presidential authority.

Bush's signing statements were viewed by many critics, Republican and Democratic alike, as another attempt to expand the scope of presidential power. Bush didn't publicize them, however, and for much of his presidency, the public was largely unaware of this practice.

Obama’s memo was a renunciation of this practice, which he had criticized during the presidential campaign.

"In recent years, there has been considerable public discussion and criticism of the use of signing statements to raise constitutional objections to statutory provisions," Obama's memo said. "There is no doubt that the practice of issuing such statements can be abused.

"Constitutional signing statements should not be used to suggest that the president will disregard statutory requirements on the basis of policy disagreements," the memo continued.

Obama acknowledged, however, that a president could legitimately use signing statements. He said he would work with Congress to limit his use of such statements and would specify his objections to legislation to ensure greater transparency.

frank.james@latimes.com