But Mr. Obama has not issued a signing statement since last summer, when one claim set off a bipartisan uproar in Congress.
When Mr. Bush signed one such bill, he issued a signing statement instructing officials to view the law as merely advisory, and they attended at least one such meeting on his watch.
WASHINGTON — President Obama issued a signing statement on Friday night saying that he could bypass a provision in the new budget that would prevent him from appointing White House "czars" to oversee major policy initiatives.
Justice Department officials pointed out that when Mr. Obama signed the legislation containing the provision in March, he issued a signing statement reserving a right to bypass any portions of the bill that restricted his power to conduct diplomacy.
But as president, he issued a signing statement reserving the right to keep whistleblowers from talking to Congress in cases where their communications would be unlawful or "otherwise confidential".
WASHINGTON — When President Obama signed a budget bill on Friday, he issued a signing statement claiming a right to bypass dozens of provisions that placed requirements or restrictions on the executive branch, saying he had "well-founded constitutional objections" to the new statutes.
A report by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office states that in nearly one-third of the cases it looked at, after President Bush issued a signing statement objecting to a provision of a new law, his administration did not implement it as written.
If Mr. Obama lives up to the principles he outlined last week, he could roll back the excessive powers that Mr. Bush claimed for his presidency, but the new president quickly issued a signing statement of his own that made us wonder just how clean a break he intended to make.
Page A22 ON SIGNING STATEMENTS Last week, President Obama outlined principles that would roll back the excessive powers Mr. Bush claimed for his presidency, but the new president quickly issued a signing statement of his own that made us wonder just how clean a break he intended to make.
Now, it is true that he issued a signing statement, but signing statements are not law.
