John McCain on Presidential Power

by slenderdog | January 13, 2008 at 02:47 pm

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Senator McCain has a reputation for "straight talk." And we have to say, he does talk straight here. It appears that the Senator answered these questions in interview since there are follow-up questions. And he did answer several questions with surprising candor--but declined to answer other ones.

3. Does the Constitution empower the president to disregard a congressional statute limiting the deployment of troops -- either by capping the number of troops that may be deployed to a particular country or by setting minimum home-stays between deployments? Is that beyond Congress' authority?

It's beyond Congress's authority to micromanage wars. Congress has the power of the purse and the power to declare wars; the President is responsible for leading the armed forces as Commander in Chief.

At least Senator McCain understands that the Commander in Chief title applies to the armed forces and not to the nation, as Senator Clinton seems to think. Interesting that he recognizes Congress' power to declare war, but doesn't seem to think it necessary to have declared war in Iraq. Of course that topic is beyond the scope of the question, but since he evaded the question he could have said something worthwhile.

4. Under what circumstances, if any, would you sign a bill into law but also issue a signing statement reserving a constitutional right to bypass the law?

As President, I won’t have signing statements. I will either sign or veto any legislation that comes across my desk..

Like Mr Edwards, Mr McCain finds it necessary to affirm that he will be President. At least Mr McCain is somewhat convincing, and his answer to this question is refreshing, and one of the few rebukes this loyal Republican has offered his current President.

9. Do you agree or disagree with the statement made by former Attorney General Gonzales in January 2007 that nothing in the Constitution confers an affirmative right to habeas corpus, separate from any statutory habeas rights Congress might grant or take away?

On that one, the Supreme Court just heard oral arguments in the Boumedienne case and it is expected to rule early next year on that question. So I will be interested in seeing how the Court rules.

Unfortunately, Senator McCain sidestepped that question. Was this an oversight, or did he feel more comfortable leaving it up to the court? While we can understand that Rudy Giuliani didn't answer because he agrees with Gonzales, we would have expected the Senator to say what he thinks--unless he agrees with Gonzales too.

10. Is there any executive power the Bush administration has claimed or exercised that you think is unconstitutional? Anything you think is simply a bad idea?

McCain declined to answer this question.

Odd, that he declined to answer. He clearly does not believe signing statements are a good idea. Nor does he seem to believe the policy on torture is correct. We fear Senator McCain is afraid to criticize his President for fear of alienating the Republican base--or shall we say, rump--whose votes he openly courts with his stance on Iraq. Yes here is a man of principle--when it suits his purposes.

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