Political Education
Will Biden Save his Presidency through Executive Order?
Will Biden Save his Presidency through Executive Order?
Biden’s Opportunity
President Biden’s presidency is stalled due to thin partisan margins that, if electoral history repeats, may vanish in this year’s midterm elections. One way to achieve some of his agenda and give Democrats something to run on is to issue executive orders.
Executive Orders
An executive order is a specific directive from the President that carries the same weight as federal law. There is no specific constitutional language that authorizes executive orders, but Article II of the Constitution places executive power in the Presidency, requiring that the President “shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” Constitutional democracy, whereby the limited powers of government Constitution. Article II of the Constitution granted powers to the executive branch. Executive orders allow the President to interpret and administer laws that may be ambiguous. Executive orders may only be used to clarify a power that the Chief Executive already has. Executive orders may not be used for the purpose of granting new powers to the President.
Checks on Executive Orders
There are several checks on Presidential executive orders.
- The Office of Legal Counsel within the Department of Justice reviews proposed executive orders to ensure it’s legality.
- The Constitution empowers Congress to make laws, therefore Congress may pass legislation that nullifies the executive order.
- An executive order may not be permanent since the orders can be overturned by subsequent presidents. Presidents will claim that their predecessor used executive orders to achieve their agenda after they failed to get their programs through Congress,
- Republican President George W. Bush revoked executive orders of his predecessor, Democrat Bill Clinton; Democrat President Obama revoked the executive orders of Republican Bush; Republican Donald Trump revoked Democrat Obama’s executive orders.
- The federal judiciary checks executive power by reviewing executive orders. Executive orders could be ruled as an unconstitutional overreach and abuse of presidential authority.
Biden’s Dilemma
Biden had a long career as a legislator. His instincts are for legislative compromise. Unfortunately for him, the Republican Party chooses to be the party of ‘NO’ and opposes anything Biden proposes. The Democratic Party now represents the entire political mainstream ideology spectrum from liberal to conservative, making unity difficult. Progressive leader Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has said
“There is an enormous amount of executive action that they’re sitting on that I think is underutilized”.
NY Representitve to Congress Alexandia Ocasio-Cortez
Ocasio-Cortez has called on Biden to issue more executive orders on topics such as immigration, climate change, student loans, and to extend the eviction moratorium. “I think, in general, the party doesn’t quite fully grasp what is happening in deep-blue communities,” says Ocasio-Cortez.
With the political clock about to toll, Biden must choose: is he a legislator or is he an executive
https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/the-administration/316575-executive-orders-run-wild-again
https://www.heritage.org/political-process/heritage-explains/executive-orders
https://nypost.com/2021/08/03/aoc-urges-biden-to-use-executive-order-to-extend-eviction-moratorium/
Thanks and a tip of the hat to DonkeyHotey for the image of President Biden.