Signed Under Protest: A Database of Presidential Signing Statements, 2001-2006

Abstract

The authors have compiled a data set that chronicles the Bush Administration's unique signing statement campaign. With regard to laws enacted between 2001 and 2006, President Bush objected to 1047 provisions embodied in 118 statutes. Objections to a number of these provisions were stated on multiple grounds. If one counts as an objection each precise ground on which the President registered concern about a provision of law, then the 1047 or so provisions at issue elicited 1430 objections. To help in the analysis of the President's objections, they classify the objections according to 23 general bases upon which they were stated. Although these are plainly overlapping, especially with regard to objections based on the unitary executive, Article II, and the separation of powers, the authors have tried to reflect as many distinct grounds for objection as appear in the signing statements themselves.