The Politics of Credit in Presidential Signing Statements

Presidential Strategies in Statements of Administration Policy

“…Beyond demonstrating support for the legislation at hand, the rhetorical functions of SAPs may include credit claiming, congratulating critical members of Congress after passage within a chamber, and making requests for more or similar legislation in the future. Such SAPs may be analogous to rhetorical presidential signing statements that have similar language, characteristics, and goals (Evans 2014; Evans and Marshall 2016). The broader connection between the two forms of presidential messages has not gone unnoticed (Ainsworth et al 2014; Ostrander and Sievert 2013b), and some scholars have even suggested that, given the similarity in content, SAPs are in fact replacing signing statements as a tool for expressing presidential thoughts on legislation (Garvey 2011; Sievert and Ostrander 2017).…”

Constraining Presidential Ambition: Controversy and the Decline of Signing Statements

“…A recent Congressional Research Service report (Stuessy ) suggests that presidents also issue SAPs with an eye toward influencing public opinion and drawing attention to salient issues. Much like the rhetorical use of presidential signing statements (Evans ; Evans and Marshall ; Kelley et al ), SAPs are a bill‐specific vehicle that can be used to publicly claim credit, take positions, thank allies, and suggest future legislative actions (Rice , 692). For example, George W. Bush used a SAP in 2003 purely to convey his support for the Do‐Not‐Call Implementation Act (Bush ).…”