On Tuesday, President Bush issued one of his infamous signing statements for a bill that will improve the independence of inspector general (IG) offices within the federal government. Since IG offices monitor efficiency, waste, and fraud in the government, but are also housed within the federal government, Congress saw fit to enact new measures to insulate IG offices from political pressures. (More on the bill here.) Bush objects to a part of the bill that attempts to stem political interference in the work of IG offices. If administration officials find an IG particularly vexing, they can slash the IG's budget in order to reduce their capacity to uncover government fraud and waste. Since the budget process is not transparent, the administration can claim its request is all the IG needs — without revealing the intra-administration conflict. The bill requires the president to include in his annual budget request to Congress a separate line item for each agency's IG. More importantly, it requires the president to submit the IG's original request for funds, that is, what each IG believes he or she needs to carry out the functions of the office. In the signing statement, Bush basically makes the claim that the president can ignore this provision. He complains, "[T]he bill includes provisions that purport to direct or regulate the content of the President's budget submissions, including provisions that purport to direct the President to include the comments of Inspectors General with respect to those submissions." Actually, upon Bush's signature, the bill does not "purport" anything. Bills passed by Congress and signed a president become law. They set rules and conditions of behavior for the government and society. Mr. Bush would do well to consult a dictionary for the meaning of both words. Bush goes on to state, "The executive branch shall construe section 8 of the bill in a manner consistent with the President's constitutional authority to recommend for congressional consideration such measures as the President shall judge necessary and expedient." Of note, the bill does not require the president or Congress to actually abide by the IG's request; it merely requires greater transparency so that Congress and the public have access an important bit of government information. As it is, nothing in the bill impedes a president's ability to carry out any function. Luckily for inspectors general, and for the prospects of good governance, Bush won't be submitting any more budget requests to Congress.