The Honorable Joseph Biden, Jr.
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear President Biden:
We, the undersigned organizations, write to express our serious concern with your signing statement for the FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Presidential signing statements that signal the executive branch’s unwillingness to comply with laws duly enacted by Congress and signed by the president pose a fundamental threat to our system of checks and balances. In this instance, we are concerned with your assertion that you have the authority to withhold disclosure to Congress of information you deem “highly sensitive” even though you are required by law to transmit that information.
There is no constitutional basis for the executive to withhold information it is required by law to transmit to Congress. While the Constitution may give the president the authority and responsibility to protect classified information, it unquestionably gives Congress significant authority over national security matters. Additionally, statutes such as the National Security Act of 1947 and the Intelligence Oversight Act of 1980 codify Congress’s right to national security information. Congress may therefore require the executive branch to provide it with classified information that Congress needs to perform its own constitutionally assigned functions.
As you note in your statement, “congressional oversight committees have legitimate...
Moore has faced scrutiny for making false claims about his academic, military, and family backgrounds Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has embarked on a preemptive media campaign attacking his st...