16 Dec 09: It looks like President Obama is trying to cut a deal in Copenhagen. There is a serious question whether any agreement he makes will be constitutional. Under the U.S. Constitution, a President can sign a treaty only with the approval of two-thirds of the Senate. At home, climate-change legislation is not moving in the Senate, so the Environmental Protection Agency is considering imposing rules unilaterally through regulation. This shows that there is no need for a legislature when a bureaucratic agency can impose the same rules anyway. Similarly, an argument has been made that President Obama can bypass the Senate and bind the United States in an international commitment through an “executive agreement.”
Although I would not be directly involved in the treaty process as a member of Congress, I would work toward making sure that all legislation from Washington is grounded in the Constitution. In addition, I would stop bureaucratic agencies from imposing regulations on the American people that should go through the legislative process.