Barack Obama campaigned for president of the United States on a promise of fidelity to the Constitution and stated that he would not issue any signing statements to revise legislative intent. His vision of the presidency stood in marked contrast to President George W. Bush's actions and seemed to suggest a reversal of the trend toward increased executive powers. We will analyze how and why President Obama has largely continued the unilateral presidential action of his predecessor, despite earlier promises to the contrary, outline why signing statements are not useful governing tools, and offer a solution to abuses of constitutional signing statements that impact appropriations. "The Decider" Returns?In a January 2013 signing statement, President Barack Obama stated that his constitutional powers as president limited him to signing or vetoing a law outright and that he lacked the authority to reject legislative provisions "one by one." Yet he then proceeded in a nearly 1,200 word statement to pick the law apart, section by section, and to effectively challenge many provisions by declaring that they violated his constitutional powers as commander in chief.

The unitary executive theory first went mainstream during the George W. Bush administration as the president's justification for exercising broad executive powers. Barack Obama did not explicitly embrace the unitary executive theory, but he followed in Bush's footsteps by expanding and augmenting presidential power in new and questionable ways. President Donald J. Trump's campaign rhetoric, coupled with an early, controversial executive order on immigration, suggest the possibility of continued expansions of executive power. Thus, the time is right to examine the unitary executive theory anew. Here, we define the theory as understood by its advocates and then offer a critique. Finally, we highlight the theory's impact on the evolution of presidential powers over the past 16 years and set the stage for evaluating what may come next.

The Office of the Pardon Attorney has served presidents well for many decades, but recent presidents have become frustrated with it for various reasons. In this article, I examine the office’s past and present, then look at possible reforms to better prepare the clemency screening process for the Biden administration and its successors.

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On February 9, 2014, the New York Times editorial board described the Obama administration as “one of the least merciful … in modern history.” Over the past year and a half, President Barack Obama has shown renewed interest in clemency. However, as of July 13, 2015, real reform remains elusive: Obama has granted less than 1% of pardon and commutation requests. Is anything likely to change in the remaining months of the Obama administration? In this article, I look for hints of Obama's plans by considering his clemency record in detail, paying particular attention to the types of offenses that have been deemed worthy of clemency and those that have not.