What Are Executive Orders and How Can Trump Use Them?

The elected president Donald Trump promised to reshape U.S. policy with a flurry of executive orders just hours after taking office next Monday.
What is an executive order?
An executive order is a directive issued unilaterally by the president that has the force of law.
Notable executive orders issued by Trump during his first term include the ban on entry for citizens from certain majority-Muslim countries and an order expanding offshore leasing for oil exploration. Trump issued 220 executive orders during his first term, more than any other president in a single four-year term since Jimmy Carter. President Joe Biden has issued 155 executive orders as of Monday (13).
When can an executive order take effect?
After a president signs an executive order, it can take effect immediately or not for months, depending on whether it requires formal action from a federal agency.
For example, the ban on Muslim entry took effect immediately because it invoked a federal law from 1952 that explicitly gave the president the authority to prohibit “the entry of ‘any class of aliens’” into the country if he deemed them harmful.
Other executive orders instruct federal agencies to act. For instance, Biden ordered health agencies to take steps to protect access to abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed states to prohibit it. This did not have an immediate effect, but agencies approved new rules in the following months through the usual regulatory process.
Where does the power to issue executive orders come from?
Although the extent of the president’s executive order power has been contested, legal experts agree that it comes from Article II of the U.S. Constitution, which makes the president the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the head of the executive power of the government, or from powers explicitly granted to the president by Congress.
What can the president not do through executive orders?
The president cannot make new laws simply by issuing an executive order.
If an executive order instructs agencies to act, any resulting regulation from the agency is subject to the Federal Administrative Procedure Act, which requires agencies to allow public comments on any rules.
Agencies also cannot violate basic constitutional rights or laws passed by Congress.
Can executive orders be blocked by the courts?
Yes. Executive orders can be challenged in court and blocked if they exceed the president’s authority.
A judge in 2017 blocked Trump’s order aimed at withholding federal funding from so-called sanctuary cities that did not cooperate with his immigration policies. The judge concluded that the president could not impose new rules on federal spending that had been approved by Congress.
A federal appeals court in 2023 blocked Biden’s executive order requiring federal employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, concluding that the measure exceeded his authority by interfering with personal medical decisions.
Source: Reuters