What is the point in delaying the signing of legislation that the President supports?

Question

Once a president has already decided that they are going to sign legislation, why not do it immediately?

For example, on Wednesday, March 10, the House of Representatives voted to pass the American Rescue Plan; which already passed in the Senate. This sends the bill to President Biden to sign into law. The White House has said that Biden plans to sign the bill into law on Friday (March 12).

Is there any reason that Biden does not sign the bill into law immediately; within hours after it passed in the House? Especially given that Biden's messaging around the stimulus / Covid relief has always been that there is no time to waste; and that it is urgent people people need the relief right now. So why delay the signing for 2 days? If Biden has already announced that he is going to sign it; why not just do it? Even if there are logistics issues with wanting the press and/or other VIPs to be present at the signing; could that not be arranged in less than a day?

I am using the American Rescue Plan as an example; but I mean to ask about legislation in general. Once a president has already decided that they are going to sign legislation, why not do it immediately?

Answer 1

The buck stops with the President. Once the President signs a law is becomes law and he can't take that back.

Major legislation runs hundreds of pages and it is commonplace for there to be myriad change at the last minute in Congressional negotiations to secure the joint approval of a Senate amended version of a House bill, or visa versa.

It would hardly be unprecedented for Congressional negotiators at the last minute and with little fanfare to slip in some change to a bill that could make it toxic to the President's political goals, and without the awareness of many people who voted in favor of the bill, that could become politically costly once known.

For example, the Affordable Care Act (i.e. Obamacare) had several very serious drafting errors (whether someone intended this, or it was unintended will never be known for sure) that have resulted in federal court litigation over the law and produced some results that were almost surely not intended by the drafters.

Also, politicians deeply need public recognition to aid in their re-election campaigns, and one of the common ways that a President can address that need of members of Congress and other political players in legislative struggles, is to invite the people who made it happen to a signing ceremony, which is a mini-celebration of the completion of an important project achieving a shared goal.

Both the review of legislation for unexpected flaws or poison pills that might prompt an unanticipated veto, and organizing a signing ceremony, takes a few days. Reviewing a long bill with a fine tooth comb and a fresh set of highly skilled eyes takes time. Getting dozens of very powerful people coordinated for any scheduled event isn't trivial.

This brief delay also gives agencies charged with implementing a new law that is expected to be signed a little time to prepare any actions that will be necessary to do so immediately when it is signed, such as drafting temporary orders from department heads and bureau chiefs about how the civil servants underneath them are impacted by the law and what they are obligated to do differently now until more formal permanent regulations and systems can be put into place.

So, bills are rarely signed immediately, unless it is a dire emergency. Signing a bill two days after it is enacted is actually sooner than usual.

Answer 2

Odd though it may seem from the outside, the President — if he is doing his job correctly — is actually quite busy. Biden in particular is still within his first 100 days (a benchmark test for every president), and because the Trump administration interfered with transition process and demonstrated a marked lack of concern for governance (if not outright sabotage) during the last few months of its tenure, Biden is saddled with an extra burden binging the Executive branch and various agencies back up to a functional level. I also have the sense that Biden is deliberately accentuating the procedural aspects of the Office in order to drive home the impression that regular, orderly, systematic governance is back in its proper place. Though he obviously wants the opportunity to have some fanfare over the bill, he doesn't want to make it about him or his agenda, but instead demonstrate government doing what it ought to for the American people.

Answer 3

Not necessarily with this particular bill but in a general sense, bill signing sometimes gets delayed to control news coverage. Unpopular bills can get delayed until the end of a Friday, too late to make that evening's news. Viewership is lower on the weekends and by Monday it will be old news, so this can help a bill fly under the radar a bit. Bills will sometimes be delayed until the day before a major holiday for the same reason (people are too preoccupied on Christmas to pay attention to what's happening).

On the flip side, a popular bill can be delayed to ensure that it gets maximum news coverage. Presidents can wait to sign it on a particular day when little else is happening and the bill can be the top story of the day.