Here's Why Trump's Executive Orders Have Limits

Donald Trump has started his Presidency by signing dozens of executive orders, taking action in areas from energy, to immigration, to withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization and the Paris climate accord. How powerful are these instruments, and how can they be challenged? Bloomberg White House reporter Hadriana Lowenkron joins host Stephen Carroll to explain.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
I'm Stephen Carol, and this is Here's Why, where we
take one news story and explain it in just a
few minutes with our experts here at Bloomberg. Donald Trump
started his presidency with a bang.

Speaker 3 (00:24):
Today I will shine a series of historic executive orders.
With these actions, we will begin the complete restoration of
America and the revolution of common sense.

Speaker 4 (00:37):
The next item here is the withdrawal from the Paris
Climate Treaty. What is to confident that those are not
going to be blocked by the courts?

Speaker 1 (00:51):
I don't think they will.

Speaker 3 (00:52):
I don't think they can be.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
He signed dozens of executive orders, some in front of
a crowd of thousands at the Capitol wondering in Washington,
and others with reporters watching on in the Oval Office.
They covered everything from energy to immigration to withdrawing the
United States from the World Health Organization. But here's why
Trump's executive orders have limits. Our white housed reporter Hedrianna

(01:17):
Lowencron joins me. Now for more. Hedriana, First of all,
what can executive orders be used for?

Speaker 4 (01:24):
Well, essentially, executive orders are really legally binding mandates, and
essentially they direct the agencies on how to implement existing
federal law. So this is an important distinction.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
An executive order only is legal, and of course it
can be challenged and we'll get into that later if
it's consistent with the law that Congress has passed.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
Okay, So my logical next question then is what can't
executive orders be used for.

Speaker 1 (01:52):
They can't be used to essentially give the executive branch
additional power. So this is not their opportunity to try
to pass a new law and kind of skirt the
current system of checks and balances that we have, which
is that Congress has the authority to pass the laws.
So this is for them to really interpret the law

(02:13):
that has already been given and carry out that to
the agencies. And again, they can really be sued and
declared illegal by courts if someone affected by that order
challenges it and the court says it is inconsistent with
a congressional statute.

Speaker 2 (02:30):
So let's get into some of those potential challenges then,
or maybe checks and balances we could describe them on
executive orders. How can these orders be challenged if there.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
Is an individual or a party who is directly affected
by an order, for example, one of President Trump's executive
orders is an attempt to end birthright citizenship. So in
the immigrant community, they have the ability to file a
law suit and this instance, one immigration group already has

(03:04):
filed a lawsuit on Monday evening challenging new order, and
the courts can take it up if they agree that
there is legal ground and essentially can decide that the
order is inconsistent with the current law and in place
or what the constitution says.

Speaker 2 (03:24):
What about Congress? Does it have a role in checking
these sort of executive orders?

Speaker 1 (03:29):
So Congress can't overrule whatever the executive order is, but
it can undermine the executive branch by then later on
passing their own legislation that makes the execution of the
order difficult or even impossible. So if there's a new

(03:49):
program or an office that the president creates, they could
pass a law that would deny funding or do something
along those lines, kind of after the act.

Speaker 2 (04:00):
We've talked about this long list of executive orders that
Donald Trump signed on his first day. Is it normal
for a president to do something like that, signs so
many executive orders in just the first day.

Speaker 1 (04:12):
Absolutely, there really has been a tendency for presidents to
issue this story that we're seeing, and particularly when a
president comes into office and it's part of a different
party than the previous holder of office, which we're seeing here,
and that's because a number of the day one actions

(04:36):
is actually reversing the actions that their predecessors had ordered.
This is something that goes back and forth depending on
who is in the executive office, and as such has
garnered some criticism for being too easily revoked and the
temporary way to pass an agenda.

Speaker 2 (04:57):
Well, let's talk a bit more about those criticisms. This
isn't necessarily a universally liked instrument of governing.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
Right, and sometimes there's a tendency for presidents to focus
on executive action if their party doesn't have a majority
in Congress and they are unable to get legislation passed
through that system. So there has been some criticism for
this idea that this is the way to get the

(05:27):
agenda passed, skirting the traditional checks and balances of the
US system in which Congress is supposed to be the
branch responsible for making the laws. So the criticism comes
from it being temporary at flipping back and forth, and
also this idea that kind of skirts the checks and balances.
But again, the importance here in terms of whether the

(05:50):
executive orders can be properly done and legally work is
they have to be the interpretation of current law. It
can't be a new power, or it can't be something
that is not already existing as a congressional statue.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
Okay, Hedrianna looncron Our, White House Reporter, Thank you very
much for joining us for more explanations like this from
our team of twenty nine hundred journalists and analysts around
the world. Search for Quick Take on the Bloomberg website
or Bloomberg Business app. I'm Stephen Caroll. This is Here's why.
I'll be back next week with more. Thanks for listening.