US President Donald Trump has returned to the White House ready to immediately change the government using the fastest tool at his disposal: an executive order.
On day one, he wanted to, among other things, increase domestic energy production and stop diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government.
It is standard practice for a new president to sign a flurry of executive orders. They allow the president to exercise power without action from Congress, but there are also limits to what these orders can accomplish.
An introduction to how presidential power works and its often short-lived influence:
What are executive orders?
These are essentially signed statements about how the president wants the federal government run. These may include instructions to federal agencies or requests for reports.
Many orders may be unobjectionable, such as giving federal workers the day after Christmas off. They can also set major policies. For example, former President Joe Biden signed an executive order creating a structure to establish regulations for artificial intelligence.
Newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump signed a number of executive orders on the first day of his term. CBC's Washington correspondent Alex Panetta explains what you need to know.
But executive orders — and their sausage-making siblings, the proclamation and policy memorandum — are also used by presidents to advance agendas they can't get through Congress.
New presidents can – and often do – issue orders to cancel the orders of their predecessors. On day one, Trump rescinded 78 orders and actions signed by Biden. Trump's waivers included Biden's executive order that canceled some of the orders Trump signed during his first term.
As the American Bar Association notes, the orders do not require congressional approval and cannot be directly waived by lawmakers. Still, Congress could block implementation of the order by cutting off funding or creating other obstacles.
How common are executive orders?
According to data collected by the American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara, several thousand executive orders have been issued throughout U.S. history. George Washington signed eight executive orders and Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed 3,721.
During his first term, Trump, a Republican, signed 220.
Biden, a Democrat, signed 160 as of December 20.
Executive orders often concern political messages
Trump has signed numerous executive orders tied to his campaign promises.
They included a temporary hiring freeze at federal agencies, an order for federal employees to return to their offices to work and a review of federal investigations that Trump said targeted his supporters. He also promised that the executive order would give more time to sell TikTok.
Trump asked Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey to write an order halting the development of offshore wind farms to generate electricity. However, it is entirely possible that Trump will issue multiple planned executive orders over time.
Many of Trump's moves are likely to draw opposition from Democrats.
In several major cases, the orders will largely be statements of intent based on Trump's campaign promises.
The power of executive orders has its limits
Both Congress and the courts have the potential to block executive orders.
For example, Congress in 1992 repealed then-President George H. W. Bush's executive order establishing a human fetal tissue bank for scientific research purposes, passing a provision stating that the executive order “shall have no legal effect.” Congress can also defund agencies and make it more difficult to enforce the order.
There are also legal challenges based on the claim that the president has exceeded his legal authority.
When President Harry Truman tried to seize steel mills during the Korean War, the U.S. Supreme Court found that he did not have the authority to seize private property without congressional authorization.