I've long had a problem with those who disclose confidential -- even classified -- executive branch information to the press. That said, I've never objected to executive branch officials and employees taking such information to either agencies set up for internal review or to members of the appropriate congressional oversight committees. Such actions are well-within the provisions of both federal law and the US Constitution.

Apparently Barack Obama thinks differently, and so he wants to strip much of the protection of federal law from whistleblowers who go to Congress.

A leading Republican senator maintains that President Obama is violating a campaign promise with his claim that he can bypass whistle-blower protections for executive branch officials who give certain information to Congress.

The lawmaker, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, sent a letter to Mr. Obama on Friday that condemned a signing statement the president attached to the $410 billion catchall spending bill he signed into law last week.

A signing statement, occasionally issued by presidents upon their signing a bill, is a document that instructs executive branch officials on how to carry out the new law. In this statement, Mr. Obama flagged a provision that protects officials who give information to Congress about their jobs or agencies. He said the statute could not limit his power to control the flow of certain information to lawmakers.

The disclosures that Barack Obama seeks to punish are those that disclose illegal or unethical actions, or activities that are arguably not in the best interest of the American people. What nefarious activities does the new president have planned that he needs the power to intimidate those who are aware of it into silence?

And, of course, Obama has engaged in this course of action using one of those eeeevvvviiiillll signing statements that he condemned back during the campaign. Smells like hypocrisy to me.

Posted by: Greg at 02:30 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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