King Festus

I never knew this was a regular part of when the President signs a bill into law, but Festus has, of late, issued "signing statements" which seems to serve as a clarification as to how much he plans to be held by the bill he just signed. One such "signing statement" was offered attached to the Defense authorization bill signed Friday:

A number of provisions of the Act, including sections 905, 932, 1004, 1212, 1224, 1227, and 1304, call for the executive branch to furnish information to the Congress on various subjects. The executive branch shall construe such provisions in a manner consistent with the President's constitutional authority to withhold information the disclosure of which could impair foreign relations, national security, the deliberative processes of the Executive, or the performance of the Executive's constitutional duties.

Even a charitable reading of the above seems to suggest that Festus's will reserve the right to violate the provisions of the act he just signed. . .