Tom Graves Quotes

Once the public loses confidence in a president's leadership at a time of war, once they don't trust him anymore, once his credibility is sharply diminished, how does he get it back?

If something is being done on a secret basis in national security, that's a great reason for elected officials to not talk about it. And that's a great way to shirk accountability for it with the public.

There's always a risk when the candidate becomes president: Will he deliver what is expected of him?

If I were the president, I would be very concerned... and I would do what was reasonably necessary to find a way to get my people confirmed.

If nobody trusts you as president, then you can't get anything done.

The President is responsible to the public for the conduct of the person he has nominated and appointed.

I don't think we can let such an outlandish result stand. I think to do so is to leave every civil official in the land open for somebody to say, "Well I don't like him.

The actions of our president systematically provide both the legal and political justifications for similar initiatives undertaken by later presidents.

Independence sounds good in theory, but in practice, it is mutually exclusive with accountability. The more independence you give a prosecutor, the less you make that prosecutor accountable to the public and regular checks and balances.

The problem is that the American public is suspicious of executive power shrouded in secrecy. In the absence of an official picture of what our government is doing, and by what authority, many in the public fill the void by envisioning the worst.

Every time a president invokes executive privilege, there are three relevant audiences he has to think about: the courts, Congress, and the public.

The domestic policy of any president, U.S. or otherwise, is his or her own concern, as long as democratic norms are followed.

We have legislated to protect the public from tax rises and guarantee incomes for pensioners, so enshrining in law more protections for consumers, commuters and investors is possible. Enshrining these rights into law would mean that any future government which wanted to reverse this would have to go through the primary legislative process.

If we cannot share aspects of our secret work with the public, we should do so with their elected representatives. For CIA oversight is a vital link to the open society we defend. It's a defining feature of the U.S. intelligence community and one of the many things that distinguishes us from the hostile services we face in the field.

Laws, especially those of a constitutional nature like the Basic Law, which have been formulated through reasonable legislative processes, should never be freely interpreted or lightly abandoned.

Trump continues to diminish the office of the Presidency.

In a parliamentary democracy, it is the job of parliament to decide the law, not the government.

With every new class of representatives that comes to Congress, there is a greater recognition of the perils of private financing of campaigns. I believe that by pulling back the curtain on the daily pressures faced by members of Congress, we can show the public how critical this reform is to the salvation of our democracy.

There are a lot of presidents in both parties - including President Obama - who had strong claims of executive privilege that I certainly think went too far.

Courts should interpret the law but leave elected lawmakers to create it.

A President's unofficial or non-presidential actions do not affect millions of people.

The American presidency combines elements of the efficient and the dignified. The president presides over governance - not making legislation but proposing it, cajoling the co-equal federal legislature and then signing and executing the laws.

The integrity of the federal procurement system needs to be protected so that the public has confidence in government contracts, and small businesses have every opportunity to compete.

The president can take steps to make sure the American public knows what its Justice Department and FBI have been up to.

I do not agree with the use of 'signing statements' to effectively act as a line-item veto, except when the President believes a law or a provision within a law is unconstitutional.In general, if a President signs a law, they are committing themselves to enforcing it. If they don't believe it should become a law, they should veto it.