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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTrump Claims Power to Bypass Limits Set by Congress in Defense Bill
WASHINGTON When President Trump signed a $716 billion military spending bill on Monday, he claimed the authority to override dozens of provisions that he deemed improper constraints on his executive powers.
In a signing statement that the White House quietly issued after 9 p.m. on Monday about six hours after Mr. Trump signed the bill in a televised ceremony at Fort Drum in New York Mr. Trump deemed about 50 of its statutes to be unconstitutional intrusions on his presidential powers, meaning that the executive branch need not enforce or obey them as written.
Among them was a ban on spending military funds on any activity that recognizes the sovereignty of the Russian Federation over Crimea, the Ukrainian region annexed by Moscow in 2014 in an incursion considered illegal by the United States. He said he would treat the provision and similar ones as consistent with the presidents exclusive constitutional authorities as commander in chief and as the sole representative of the nation in foreign affairs.
The statement was the latest example of Mr. Trumps emerging broad vision of executive power. His personal lawyers, for example, have claimed that his constitutional authority to supervise the Justice Department means that he can lawfully impede the investigation into Russias interference in the 2016 election no matter his motive, despite obstruction-of-justice statutes.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-claims-power-to-bypass-limits-set-by-congress-in-defense-bill/ar-BBLWdUH?li=BBnbcA1
HipChick
(25,485 posts)ProudLib72
(17,984 posts)tonyt53
(5,737 posts)HipChick
(25,485 posts)Blue wide riding in
Crash2Parties
(6,017 posts)tonyt53
(5,737 posts)NoMoreRepugs
(9,431 posts)Solly Mack
(90,769 posts)Claritie Pixie
(2,199 posts)Trump is making a gigantic power grab. No one will stop him from declaring any law an unconstitutional incursion of his power. The GOP want this so they can stay in power forever.
Once Kavanaugh is voted in, game over for life as we know it.
ProudMNDemocrat
(16,786 posts)We must continue to rise up and resist with our activism and votes.
Of course, Putin must be smiling broadly at his protoge.
2naSalit
(86,638 posts)Freethinker65
(10,023 posts)Frustratedlady
(16,254 posts)I'd sure love to know who visits his resorts when he is on a golfing trip. He seems to come out of those weekends with aggressive ideas and renewed ideas of power.
Since he has Omorosa running interference for him with her disclosures, I suppose he grabbed the opportunity to sneak this through? This is scary as hell.
Can he get by with these demands or do we have some sort of protection from Congress?
As an aside, is Hope Hicks now back onboard?
iluvtennis
(19,861 posts)LastLiberal in PalmSprings
(12,586 posts)Actually, the GOP is already doing that.
I believe in addition to "a president is above the law," SCOTUS nominee Kavanaugh is a believer of the unitary executive theory. Cheney and Dubya were big supporter of the theory, and Dubya also used it to negate laws he didn't like. He wrote "signing statements" for nearly every law that came across his desk, each saying essentially, "Fuck you, I'll do what I want."
If I recall, Congress controls the purse strings. Donnie Two Scoops cannot legally move or add funds to suit his whims.