Excerpts from Washington Times article: "President's fidelity to oath on autopilot?"
One day after Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. helped President Obama bungle the oath of office on Inauguration Day 2009, the president held a do-over at the White House out of "an abundance of caution" over constitutional hiccups.
Now, lawmakers are wondering where that caution has gone.
"We're seeing a pattern develop of a very casual approach to the Constitution or to current law as it exists," said Rep. Tom Graves, Georgia Republican, who organized the letter. He said it's "a pattern that Congress is getting frustrated with."
The White House says the president is comfortable with his reading of the situation, and press secretary Jay Carney last week pointedly noted Mr. Obama's credentials "as a constitutional lawyer himself."
As for the autopen incident, the White House points to a Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel brief from the George W. Bush administration. The brief argues that it meets the Constitution's requirement that if the president approves of a bill, "he shall sign it."
The Bush administration did not use the method because it was still suspect. Last month, though, key provisions of the Patriot Act were in danger of expiring, and Congress delayed an extension until the last minute, when Mr. Obama was traveling in Europe.
