On a blog without a name

This piece is only of marginal interest in itself, but it illustrates an interesting constitutional development. The Constitution of the US provides the President with the power to veto legislation passed by congress. As usually understood, veto powers reject or accept measures in their entirety. The Bush administration, however, has made much use of signing statements. These documents, whose legal significance has yet to be truly challenged in court, assert a particular presidential interpretation of law, often signalling an intention to interpret the law in a particular way, and in effect giving the President a power, the extent of which is not fully established, to modify legislation.