Obama: Gitmo, Foreign Command Provisions in Law Don’t Count

Signing the massive “omnibus” spending bill into law today, President Barack Obama issued a formal signing statement indicating that he ends to pick and choose which portions of the new law he intends to follow and which he intends to ignore.

The two foreign policy provisions he intends to ignore are one limiting his ability to transfer detainees out of Guantanamo Bay, and one which would limit his ability to place US troops under foreign command, both of which he said would be ignored to “avoid constitutional conflicts.”

President Obama also rejected all provisions which require him to clear spending with appropriators, saying that he will not seek congressional approval for his spending decisions.

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Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.