Limits of Presidential Power

Trump's executive orders are limited and can be overturned by courts, says Sharece Thrower

- Sharece Thrower

Before his inauguration, Donald Trump promised to issue a total of 100 or so executive orders once he regained the presidency. These orders reset government policy on everything from immigration enforcement to diversity initiatives to environmental regulation. They also aim to undo much of Joe Biden's presidential legacy.

Trump is not the first U.S. president to issue an executive order, and he certainly won't be the last. My own research shows executive orders have been a mainstay in American politics – with limitations.

What is an executive order? Though the Constitution plainly articulates familiar presidential tools like vetoes and appointments, the real executive power comes from reading between the lines.

Presidents have long interpreted the Constitution's Article 2 clauses – like “the executive power shall be vested in a President” and “he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed” – to give them total authority to enforce the law through the executive branch, by any means necessary.

One leading way they do that is through executive orders, which are presidential written directives to agencies on how to implement the law. The courts view them as legally valid unless they violate the Constitution or existing statutes.

Executive orders, like other unilateral actions, allow presidents to make policy outside of the regular lawmaking process. This leaves Congress, notoriously polarized and gridlocked, to respond.

Thus, executive orders are unilateral actions that give presidents several advantages, allowing them to move first and act alone in policymaking.

How have they historically been used? Every U.S. president has issued executive orders since they were first systematically catalogued in 1905.