President can sign executive orders but can he sign....?

[kentuck]

executive orders to hand over his duties to the Vice President? Is it any more legal for him to transfer his authority to the VP than it is for the Congress to transfer its authority to the President? I know it's hard work but it comes with a job description called the Constitution. He has the authority to sign executive orders but he does not have the authority to transfer his responsibilities as President, any more than he can sign an executive order to make Cheney the Commander in Chief...

[Vincardog]

1. But can Cheney make aWoL the Commander in Chief?

[Xithras]

2. The rules on executive orders are fuzzy.

Strict constitutionalists say they're all illegal, since they aren't mentioned in the Constitution or amendments, and they weren't created by Congress. They're kind of a vague loophole created from a poorly defined phrase in the Constitution.

Still, there was a case once that did limit the authority of executive orders. Basically, they can modify or enhance any existing law in the US. They cannot be used to create entirely new law, and they cannot be used to contradict or strike down a law of Congress or the Constitution.

So the answer to your question is this: It depends. It depends on HOW and WHO invested that power in the President. If an act of Congress declared that ONLY the President has the power in the executive to declassify documents, then he cannot override it by executive order. If Congress merely generated a list of people who can do it and didn't specifically prohibit others, then the President can expand that list using his "enhancement" rights. If that ability was created by some previous President or by some old policy, then the President is free to modify it as he wants.

To figure out whether or not the executive order was legal, you need to find out where Bush got the authority to declassify documents in the first place.

[Justice Is Comin]

3. Depends on how far other governing statutes were stretched.

and the reasoning for it.

A responsible intelligent president may have valid reasons to amend a previous executive order. This one does it because he's power crazy and thinks no one will ever be able to prevent him because of the Republican Congress.

If any president wanted to make the V.P the president, all he would have to do is step down. He wouldn't need an executive order.

What Congress has to terminate is signing statements, especially with this freak. Their legislation is meaningless. He can just do his own draft until he likes it and sign it. This is patently ridiculous.

They should eliminate any presidents ability to amend any legislation that is sent up for signature. There should be only two possibilities--veto or line item veto.

It makes me wonder how the hell we ever got to 2006 with these stupid law writers.