Mr. Bush signed the two measures into law. But he then issued a so-called signing statement in which he instructed the executive branch to view parts of each as unconstitutional constraints on presidential power.
In the authorization bill, Mr. Bush challenged four sections. One forbid the money from being used “to exercise United States control of the oil resources of Iraq”; another required negotiations for an agreement by which Iraq would share some of the costs of the American military operations there.
Bush Declares Exceptions to Sections of Two Bills He Signed Into Law
David Gergen, a journalist who served as a White House advisor to Republican and Democratic presidents,...
