Don't Get Hooked on Executive Orders
Posted on
When Barack Obama became president in 2009, he moved quickly to overturn many of George W. Bush's policies. During his first 100 days, Obama issued executive orders revoking the Bush administration's limitations on stem cell research, easing marijuana prosecutions, and endorsing a United Nations declaration on gay rights that Bush had declined to sign. Other Obama directives restored support for organizations that provided abortions, loosened restrictions on Cuba, and stopped requiring contractors to notify employees of their right to limit payments to labor unions.
Eight years later, the worm turned.
When Donald Trump took office in 2016, he set about reversing Obama's legacy. He issued executive decrees doing away with his predecessor's requirement that companies report payroll data by race and gender; announced his intention to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and the Iran nuclear deal; granted approval for construction of the Keystone XL pipeline; and rescinded Obama's guidelines on investigating campus sexual assault allegations.