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Signing Statements
On signing a bill, a President may issue a statement saying how the executive branch reads the law: which provisions it treats as binding, which it reads as advisory, and which it will apply consistent with the President's own constitutional authority. Each statement issued since the term began is quoted from its opening and set beside the law it names.
A bill becomes law when the President signs it. Sometimes he adds a note the same day.
The note says how he reads the new law. It can name parts he does not read as binding.
Each note here is quoted. Each one links to the law it goes with.
- Statement on Signing the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026Issued December 18, 2025 · on signing S. 1071 · DCPD-202501207 · 946 words · reserves a reading
- Statement on Legislation Requiring the Release of Department of Justice Investigation Documents Pertaining to Deceased Convicted Sex Offender Jeffrey EpsteinIssued November 19, 2025 · on signing H.R. 4405 · DCPD-202501133 · 389 words
- Statement on Signing Legislation Regarding Congressional Disapproval of Environmental Protection Agency Rules Relating to Vehicle Fuel Efficiency Standards in CaliforniaIssued June 12, 2025 · on signing H.J. Res. 87, H.J. Res. 88, and H.J. Res. 89 · DCPD-202500684 · 504 words
What a Signing Statement Is, and What It Is Not
A signing statement accompanies a law and is not a part of it. The law is the text Congress passed and the President signed; the statement is the executive branch saying how it reads that text. Where a statement names provisions it will treat consistent with the President's constitutional authority, that paragraph is quoted whole on the statement's page, because it is the paragraph in which a reading is reserved. What the paragraph means is left to the paragraph, and no reading of it is recorded here.
The Laws These Statements Name
Every law these statements name is held here, and each statement links to the law it accompanies. Where one names a law this site does not hold, the record says so rather than linking to nothing.
What Is Here, and What Is Not
Every written statement on signing legislation issued since January 20, 2025 that the Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents marks as a signing statement in its own category for the document. Spoken remarks at a bill signing ceremony are titled and filed differently and are not signing statements. A message returning a bill without approval is a veto and is not one either. 16 documents filed under bill signings were read and passed over on that test.
The Compilation is printed some weeks behind the President, so a bill signed recently may have a statement that has not been printed yet. The most recent document in the Compilation held here is dated August 21, 2026.
These are United States government works and are not under copyright. Each statement is quoted from its opening rather than reproduced whole, and the whole of it is one click away.