29
Jun
Letter to the CS Monitor on Presidential Power
Topic: Politics
I just submitted the following letter to the CS Monitor, in regard to their article Debate on Hill Over Power of the President. It’s the first time I’ve ever written a letter to the editor - I’ll let you know if they print it. The Cooper paper I mention is here [PDF].
Your June 28 article, “Debate on Hill Over Power of the President,” overlooks two vital concerns in this debate. One is that President Bush’s use of signing statements exceeds those of previous Presidents not only in number, but also in scope. In the September 2005 issue of Presidential Studies Quarterly, scholar Phillip Cooper described in detail Bush’s “audacious claims to constitutional authority” in his use of signing statements. Bush has used signing statements to treat a number of mandatory legislative provisions as merely “advisory,” to recast areas of foreign affairs where Presidents previously shared power with Congress into areas of exclusive Presidential authority, to grant himself a de facto line-item veto, to reprogram Congressional appropriations for his own purposes, to assert such tight control over information as to render Congressional oversight meaningless in many areas, and to assert several other claims to power. No previous President has made such wide-ranging claims of Presidential authority, by use of signing statements or any other means.
The other vital concern is understanding the larger context of this debate. President Bush has made broad claims to Presidential power beyond the use of signing statements. For example, via executive order he has suspended habeas corpus for those he suspects of connection to terrorism. Habeas corpus has been suspended only once before in our history, by President Lincoln in the Civil War. While Lincoln sought and obtained retroactive authorization from Congress, Bush has not acknowledged any Congressional authority in this area. In regard to the warrantless wiretapping program, what has not been widely noted is its connection to the Patriot Act. President Bush asked Congress to loosen some of the FISA rules, and was granted these requests in the Patriot Act. He publicly thanked Congress, and then secretly directed the NSA to disregard those very same laws.
What is urgently needed in this country, and is so far lacking, is a broad, informed, and vigorous public debate on just how much power we are willing to invest in the Presidency, given the terrorist threat, and how to guard against abuses of that power. President Bush’s aggressive stance on executive authority will not go away with his administration. Once power is acquired, it is rarely relinquished - future Presidents will build on the precedents he is establishing. As such, this is hardly an arcane debate - it goes to the very principals of government on which this country was founded.
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