In 1986, Meese, then serving as attorney general, received a report from aides that recommended steps to enhance the power of the presidency. It called for Reagan to veto more legislation, for the White House to decline to enforce laws that “unconstitutionally encroach upon the executive branch,” and it outlined the legal theory that the president had complete control of all executive branch functions. In a subsequent speech, Meese argued that Supreme Court rulings did not establish the “‘supreme law of the land’ that is binding on all persons and parts of government, henceforth and
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