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“[O]nce it is clear that a bill will be coming to the president’s desk, the White House will post the bill online,” White House spokesman Nick Shapiro told New York Times reporter Katherine Seelye for her June 22 story on President Obama’s “Sunlight Before Signing” campaign pledge. “This will give the American people a greater ability to review the bill, often many more than five days before the president signs it into law.”


The story, titled “White House Changes the Terms of a Campaign Pledge About Posting Bills Online,” was about the White House effort to walk back from President Obama’s campaign pledge to post bills he receives for five days before signing them.


When the New York Times published the story, five bills had been presented to the president and were awaiting his signature. Four more were presented to him after the story’s publication. All nine are now law.


And for the life of me, I can’t find where any of them have been posted on White​house​.gov. Surely it was clear to the White House that the five bills it had and the four soon to come would reach the president’s desk.


I disagree with arguments for releasing President Obama from his pledge to sign bills only after he has posted them for a full five days after receiving them. It would have the same effects as the 72-hour hold the Sunlight Foundation is seeking from Congress — also a welcome legislative process reform.


And it’s becoming more clear that the five-day promise could be implemented. At this point, only one of 39 bills that the president has signed has been posted for five days in advance. (The DTV Delay Act was actually not held five days after formal presentment, but the White House posted it after the final version had passed Congress.) Twenty-four other bills have been held at the White House five days or more before the President has signed them. They just haven’t been posted.


To repeat, over 60% of the legislation coming out of Congress waits five days for the president’s signature as a matter of course. The only thing preventing implementation of the president’s promise as to these bills is the White House’s inexplicable reluctance to do what it says it will do.

At this point, it’s worth repeating that I can’t find the bills online at White​house​.gov. I have searched the site high and low, even entering URLs where I would guess they might be. I find it hard to believe that no bills have been posted under even the modified promise given to the Times late last month. I will happily post a correction and apology if there is a corner of White​house​.gov that I failed to explore. (If bills are so deeply hidden, that’s a problem, too, of course.)


I’m fond of joking that the “Sunlight Before Signing” promise is a golden opportunity because I can write 100 blog posts over the next few years without thinking a single original thought. But voters and me are one thing — if the White House is breaking a promise to the New York Times, that could be serious!


For the record, here are the pieces of legislation signed by the president so far:

Public Law Date Presented Date Signed Posted (Linked) for Comment? Five Days?
P.L. 111–2, The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 1/28/2009 1/29/2009 1/29/2009 No
P.L. 111–3, The Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 2/4/2009 2/4/2009 2/1/2009 No
P.L. 111–4, The DTV Delay Act 2/9/2009 2/11/2009 2/5/2009 Yes and No
P.L. 111–5, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 2/16/2009 2/17/2009 2/13/2009 No
P.L. 111–6, Making further continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2009, and for other purposes 3/6/2009 3/6/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–7, A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2105 East Cook Street in Springfield, Illinois, as the “Colonel John H. Wilson, Jr. Post Office Building” 2/26/09 3/9/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–8, The Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 3/11/2009 3/11/2009 3/6/2009 No
P.L. 111–9, To extend certain immigration programs 3/18/2009 3/20/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–10, To provide for an additional temporary extension of programs under the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act of 1958, and for other purposes 3/19/2009 3/20/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–11, The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 3/30/2009 3/30/2009 3/30/2009 No
P.L. 111–12, The Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2009 3/24/2009 3/30/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–13, The Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act 4/20/2009 4/21/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–14, To designate the United States courthouse under construction at 327 South Church Street, Rockford, Illinois, as the “Stanley J. Roszkowski United States Courthouse” 4/14/2009 4/23/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–15, The Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program Act of 2009 4/14/2009 4/24/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–16, The Statutory Time-Periods Technical Amendments Act of 2009 4/30/2009 5/7/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–17, A joint resolution providing for the appointment of David M. Rubenstein as a citizen regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution 4/28/2009 5/7/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–18, A bill to repeal section 10(f) of Public Law 93–531, commonly known as the “Bennett Freeze” 4/28/2009 5/8/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–19, The Civil Rights History Project Act of 2009 4/30/2009 5/12/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–20, The Protecting Incentives for the Adoption of Children with Special Needs Act of 2009 5/5/2009 5/15/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–21, The FERA 5/19/2009 5/20/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–22, The Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009 5/20/2009 5/22/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–23, The Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009 5/21/2009 5/22/2009 5/14/2009 No
P.L. 111–24, The Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights Act of 2009 5/20/2009 5/22/2009 5/14/2009 No
P.L. 111–25, The Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission Act 5/21/2009 6/2/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–26, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 12877 Broad Street in Sparta, Georgia, as the “Yvonne Ingram-Ephraim Post Office Building” 6/9/2009 6/19/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–27, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 300 East 3rd Street in Jamestown, New York, as the “Stan Lundine Post Office Building” 6/9/2009 6/19/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–28, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 103 West Main Street in McLain, Mississippi, as the “Major Ed W. Freeman Post Office” 6/9/2009 6/19/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–29, To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 3245 Latta Road in Rochester, New York, as the “Brian K. Schramm Post Office Building” 6/9/2009 6/19/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–30, The Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform Act of 2004 Extension Act 6/19/2009 6/19/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–31, The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act 6/16/2009 6/22/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–32, The Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2009 6/19/2009 6/24/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–33, The Native American Heritage Day Act of 2009 6/16/2009 6/26/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–34, To designate the Federal building and United States courthouse located at 306 East Main Street in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, as the “J. Herbert W. Small Federal Building and United States Courthouse” 6/19/2009 6/30/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–35, To designate the Federal building located at 799 United Nations Plaza in New York, New York, as the “Ronald H. Brown United States Mission to the United Nations Building” 6/19/2009 6/30/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–36, The Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009 6/19/2009 6/30/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–37, The Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2009 6/25/2009 6/30/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–38, A bill to provide additional personnel authorities for the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction 6/24/2009 6/30/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–39, To make technical corrections to the Higher Education Act of 1965, and for other purposes 6/26/2009 7/1/2009 No n/​a
P.L. 111–40, A bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Women Airforce Service Pilots (“WASP”) 6/24/2009 7/1/2009 No n/​a