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Executive Orders: An Overview
The executive branch has several methods for overseeing and managing its agencies. Presidential directives instructing agencies on how to carry out their work are called Executive Orders. Executive orders are management instructions to agency administrators, similar to instructions bosses give their employees in private companies. Like other employees, agency administrators follow Executive Orders to avoid being fired. Executive Orders generally persist until another President issues a new Order to replace the old one.
Presidential Memorandums are similar to Executive Order, carrying the force of law, but there is no requirement that they are tracked or published in the Federal Registrar.
"The Federal Register (FR or Fed. Reg.) is a legal newspaper published every federal working day by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the Government Publishing Office (GPO).Each issue contains both proposed and finalized administrative agency rules and regulations, as well as policy statements and interpretations of existing rule." Ballotpedia
Memorandums are also directives telling agencies how to act. For example, see the below Presidential Memorandum signed quickly after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs decision:
- "Protect Access to Safe and Legal Medication Abortion. On what would have been the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade on January 22, President Biden issued a Presidential Memorandum directing further efforts to protect access to medication abortion, including to support patients, providers, and pharmacies who wish to legally access, prescribe, or provide mifepristone—and to safeguard their safety and security, including at pharmacies. This Presidential Memorandum was issued in the face of attacks by state officials to prevent women from accessing mifepristone and discourage pharmacies from becoming certified to dispense the medication. These attacks followed independent, evidence-based action taken by FDA to allow mifepristone to continue to be prescribed by telehealth and sent by mail as well as to enable interested pharmacies to become certified." June 23, 2023, White House Fact Sheet
The power of the Executive Order and Presidential Memoranda cannot be understated – see 12 of the Boldest Executive Order in U.S. History to Kick of Your President’s Day and the 10 of the Most Consequential Executive Orders and Proclamations in Presidential History.
Former President Trump signed a significant number of Executive Orders, which impacted civil and human rights. Below are a few examples:
2017
On January 27, Trump signed an executive order – the first version of his Muslim ban – that discriminated against Muslims and banned refugees.
On February 9, Trump signed three executive orders “to fight crime, gangs, and drugs; restore law and order; and support the dedicated men and women of law enforcement.” The orders, though vague, were viewed suspiciously by civil rights organizations.
On March 6, Trump signed a revised executive order restricting travel to the United States by citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen and drastically cutting back refugee admissions.
On March 27, Trump signed a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act, which repealed the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order. The order, signed by President Obama, represented a much-needed step forward in ensuring that the federal contractor community is providing safe and fair workplaces for employees by encouraging compliance with federal labor and civil rights laws, and prohibiting the use of mandatory arbitration of certain disputes.
On April 10, Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to push for work requirements for low-income people in America who receive federal assistance, including Medicaid and SNAP.
On May 3, Trump signed an executive order creating a White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative tasked with working on “religious liberty” issues across federal agencies. The order deleted protections for beneficiaries receiving federally funded services from religious groups.
On July 14, the federal government executed Daniel Lewis Lee – the first federal execution in more than 17 years after the Trump administration resumed the federal death penalty.
On September 4, Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, sent a memo to the heads of executive departments and agencies instructing them to end anti-racist trainings that address white privilege and critical race theory – calling them “divisive, anti-American propaganda.”
On October 8, a Justice Department memo suspended all diversity and inclusion training for the department’s employees and managers in compliance with Trump’s recent executive order banning anti-bias trainings.
On November 2, Trump signed an executive order establishing the President’s Advisory 1776 Commission to “promote patriotic education.” The commission, teased by Trump in remarks on September 17, was viewed as a political move aimed at censoring the teaching of American history and as an attack on The New York Times’ Pulitzer-Prize winning 1619 Project, which details this nation’s history beginning when the first enslaved Africans were brought to America.
Once President Biden came into office, he quickly started to unravel many of Trump’s Executive Orders, which is yet another example of the mercurial nature of the administrative state, read: Biden Spends First Week Issuing Orders Reversing Trump’s Orders
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