Types
A study released by then-Assistant Attorney General Walter Dellinger (1993–1996) grouped signing statements into three categories:
- Constitutional: asserts that the law is constitutionally defective in order to guide executive agencies in limiting its implementation;
- Political: defines vague terms in the law to guide executive agencies in its implementation as written;
- Rhetorical: uses the signing of the bill to mobilize political constituencies.
In recent usage, the phrase "signing statement" has referred mostly to statements relating to constitutional matters that direct executive agencies to apply the law according to the president's interpretation of the Constitution.
The "non-signing statement" is a related method that some presidents have used to express concerns about certain provisions in a bill without vetoing it. With the non-signing statement, presidents announce their reasons for declining to sign, while allowing the bill to become law unsigned. The U.S. Constitution allows such enactments by default: if the President does not sign the bill, it becomes law after ten days "unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return..."
Read more about this topic: Signing Statement
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