Obama update: DADT and signing statements

A couple of Obama items to report, both via the quite conservative but nonetheless well-informed and insightful blawgers at Volokh.  

First, President Obama made some promising comments at the White House reception honoring Pride Month on our old friend Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.

I want to say a word about “don’t ask, don’t tell.”  As I said before — I’ll say it again — I believe “don’t ask, don’t tell” doesn’t contribute to our national security. (Applause.)  In fact, I believe preventing patriotic Americans from serving their country weakens our national security. (Applause.) … I know that every day that passes without a resolution is a deep disappointment to those men and women who continue to be discharged under this policy — patriots who often possess critical language skills and years of training and who’ve served this country well. But what I hope is that these cases underscore the urgency of reversing this policy not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it is essential for our national security.

Awesome!  Getting rid of DADT is “essential for our national security”!  And so, the Volokh blawger asks:

To deal with this grave and urgent threat to national security, the Commander-in-Chief announced that he will immediately:

(1) Suspend enforcement of DADT in its entirety for the duration of the war, claiming ample constitutional and statutory authority.

(2) Issue a stop-loss order barring DADT expulsions for certain classes of “mission-critical” specialists.

(3) Order the Defense Department to halt DADT investigations and other inquiries into soldiers’ sexual orientation.

(4) Demand that Congress act now to repeal DADT.

(5) Ask that a plan be developed on an unspecified time schedule for the repeal of DADT at some indefinite point in the future.

(Pick one.)

Any of options 1-3 are well within the President’s ample executive authority, IMHO, and option 4 would be a useful rhetorical device.  Sadly, we know the answer to this quiz.  From the earlier link:

[A]s commander in chief, in a time of war, I do have a responsibility to see that this change is administered in a practical way and a way that takes over the long term. That’s why I’ve asked the secretary of Defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to develop a plan for how to thoroughly implement a repeal.

And yet, lest you think that President Obama is acting cautiously because he doesn’t want to go all Dick Cheney on the issue of his executive authority, here we go:

[P]rovisions of this bill within sections 1110 to 1112 of title XI, and sections 1403 and 1404 of title XIV, would interfere with my constitutional authority to conduct foreign relations by directing the Executive to take certain positions in negotiations or discussions with international organizations and foreign governments, or by requiring consultation with the Congress prior to such negotiations or discussions. I will not treat these provisions as limiting my ability to engage in foreign diplomacy or negotiations.

We saw this coming, didn’t we?

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