Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Can Congress Sue Bush?

Now there's an idea.

And, it's actually being given serious consideration by a Republican senator, Arlen Specter (R-PA), who chairs the senate judiciary committee.

Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, made his comments after a Judiciary Committee hearing on signing statements, which are official documents that Bush has used to challenge the constitutionality of more than 750 laws when signing legislation .

Bush has issued more signing statements than all previous presidents combined. But he has never vetoed a bill, depriving Congress of any chance to override his judgment. If Congress had the power to sue Bush, Specter said, the Supreme Court could determine whether the president's objections are valid under the Constitution.

``There is a sense that the president has taken the signing statements far beyond the customary purviews," Specter said at the hearing. He added that ``there's a real issue here as to whether the president may, in effect, cherry-pick the provisions he likes, excluding the provisions he doesn't like. . . . The president has the option under the Constitution to veto or not."

So, if congress passes a law declaring it can sue Bush, will Bush then create another signing statement saying it can't?

Pass the popcorn.

No comments:

Post a Comment