Statement on Signing the COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023

This signing statement accompanies President Biden's signing of the COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023 into law on March 20, 2023. The Act directs the Director of National Intelligence to declassify information related to the origins of COVID-19, including any intelligence relevant to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The signing statement expresses Biden's support for transparency while raising concerns about provisions that could require the disclosure of information that might harm national security or intelligence sources and methods.

The law and signing statement affect the intelligence community, which must review and declassify the covered information, as well as the public and Congress, who are the intended beneficiaries of greater transparency. The Act reflects bipartisan congressional interest in understanding the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the possibility that it may have originated from a laboratory accident.

Signing statements are constitutionally contested. While presidents use them to record interpretive views on legislation, statements suggesting intent to resist full compliance with a disclosure law raise separation-of-powers concerns. The administration's invocation of national security exemptions reflects the ongoing tension between the legislature's interest in transparency and the executive's interest in protecting intelligence sources and methods.

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