“We’re not gonna put up with that crap anymore.”
Addressing a packed Capital One arena in Washington, D.C., the newly inaugurated 47th president delivered his prepared remarks Jan. 20 with plenty of quips and jabs as Donald Trump announced “the Golden Age of America begins.” His tool of choice? Executive orders.
Executive orders are a presidential power not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution but are derived from Article II, Section I which states, “The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.” In practice, they have become de facto laws which sidestep the legislative branch, providing the president with powers bounded only by the myriad of agencies that enforce federal regulations.
Conservatives have often lamented executive orders as examples of the growth of bureaucratic federal governance since President Teddy Roosevelt. When Roosevelt took office in 1901, he followed a McKinley administration that had issued fewer than 200 executive orders. By the time he left office eight years later, Roosevelt had issued a staggering 1,081 executive orders.
Other progressive presidents such as Wilson and FDR followed the trend, issuing more than 4,800 executive orders during their combined 20 years in office. President Biden issued 161 executive orders while in office.
Presidents Bush and Reagan used executive orders to advance conservative policy through restrictions on immigration and budget. Through executive action, Trump revoked more than 80 executive orders from the Biden administration on his first day in office, showing that conservatives can govern as the party of normalcy and use executive power to strike down bad policies.
The cancer of bureaucratic experts, specialized federal departments, and commissions that has been metastasizing since the early 20th century won’t be removed by boosting GDP or strengthening the military. It will be defeated by leaders who can stand up and say things like:
“It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality,” per Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order to “Restore biological truth to the federal government.”
His executive orders align with conservative values by cutting government Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion offices and rolling back federal departments’ reach rather than implementing new programs. While previous presidents used executive orders to dodge passing policy through legislation, Trump is using them to target and revoke those bureaucratic directives. Even the big picture directives Trump has implemented in the past week are focused on removing burdens on the American people: reducing the inflation crisis, addressing the housing market, and freezing new federal hires.
While Trump’s first term often felt hamstrung by poor cabinet picks and an agenda which got caught in the bureaucratic morass, his second term is starting off unapologetically on the offensive. Rather than spending time complaining about overreaches in the federal government, Trump is using his executive power to remove offices and departments in his attempt to redefine the executive branch within its constitutional bounds.
Trump’s use of executive orders should not be cheered on by conservative because they force conservative policies on America. Trump should be supported because in practice, he is using executive action to remove power from the federal government, defending our constitutional order. His actions advance the conservative principle of returning power to elected officials and away from unelected bureaucrats.
Trump has dragged conservatives out of hedging their policy positions while in power.
Even more importantly, Trump’s executive orders reject the previous trend of adopting semi-legislative power. His executive orders target the power and scope of the federal government, especially as implemented by the Biden administration. Trump’s creation of the Department of Government Efficiency demonstrates his vision of executive power: a tool to reduce the burden of the federal government on the American people.
As Trump confines the federal government to its proper bounds, he can better act on his promises to flex American strength abroad.
It’s still just the start — the first couple weeks of the second Trump administration are not even over. But if Trump continues realigning the executive branch with its Constitutional design, he really might make America great again.
Josh Mistry is a junior studying politics.
