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On his fifty-first day in office, President Obama signed the $410 omnibus spending bill that came under fire because it came with potentially-unnecessary earmarks.

Despite ordering a review of his predecessor’s use of signing statements, the president issued a signing statement with the bill saying certain provisions “raise constitutional concerns” and may not be followed.

He also discussed earmarks, noting that they can be useful but also “have been used as a vehicle for waste, fraud, and abuse.” He vowed to reform the earmarking process and said the administration will eliminate earmarks determined to have “no legitimate public purpose.”

The president also created a council on women and girls. He noted lingering inequality between men and women and said that ““when any of our citizens cannot fulfill their potential because of factors that have nothing to do with their talent, their character, their work ethic, that says something about the state of our democracy.”

Below, check out Chip Reid’s CBS Evening News report on the president’s signing of the bill and comments on earmarks.

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President Obama this afternoon privately signed the $410 billion omnibus spending bill passed by Congress, which he has acknowledged is “imperfect” because of potentially-unnecessary earmarks. (Read more about the bill here.)

In announcing his signing of the bill, the president issued a signing statement saying the Department of Justice has advised him that the bill includes provisions that “raise constitutional concerns” and that he thus may not follow them.

“The signing statement on the Omnibus bill very much resembles the kind that President Bush was criticized for,” notes CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller.

Mr. Obama outlined five objections in the statement. The first is that certain provisions “would unduly interfere with my constitutional authority in the area of foreign affairs by effectively directing the Executive on how to proceed or not proceed in negotiations or discussions with international organizations and foreign governments.”

“I will not treat these provisions as limiting my ability to negotiate and enter into agreements with foreign nations,” the president said.

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White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel admitted to CBS News Chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer that President Obama does not like the omnibus spending bill, but that he will sign it.

"It sounds to me like what [President Obama is] about to do here is say, 'Well, I don't like this but I'm going to go ahead and sign it, but I'm going to warn you, don't ever do it again.' Is that what's about to happen here?” asked the host of Face The Nation.

Emanuel replied, “In not so many words, yes.”

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