Beyond the Dome

Not to be outdone by John McCain, Barack Obama promised last night not to use presidential signing statements as "an end-run around Congress."

So both of the likely presidential nominees are now trying to distance themselves from one of President Bush's most controversial uses of executive power: using signing statements to declare that, in effect, he'll treat certain provisions of new laws as optional if he thinks they encroach on his presidential powers.

Last week, McCain promised not to "subvert the purpose of legislation I have signed by making statements that indicate I will enforce only the parts of it I like."

So here's what Obama said last night, when asked about the practice at a town hall in Billings, Montana:

"Congress's job is to pass legislation. The president can veto it or he can sign it. But what George Bush has been trying to do, as part of his effort to accumulate more power in the presidency, is he's been saying, "Well, I can basically change what Congress passed by attaching a letter saying, 'I don't agree with this part or I don't agree with that part. I'm going to choose to interpret it this way or that way.'"

"That's not part of his power, but this is part of the whole theory of George Bush that he can make laws as he's going along. I disagree with that. I taught the Constitution for 10 years. I believe in the Constitution, and I will obey the Constitution of the United States. We're not going to use signing statements as a way of doing an end-run around Congress, all right?"

Note that Obama doesn't say he'd do away with signing statements altogether - the statements are a routine procedure when presidents sign legislation into law. He's just saying he'd stop using them for a specific purpose.

That's no surprise, since it's an easy opportunity to criticize Bush. But now that both Obama and McCain have gone on the record in public forums, the public can watch the next president's signing statements closely to make sure the candidates meant what they said.