President Donald Trump has signed 81 executive orders since the start of his second term on Jan. 20 just over a month ago. The overwhelming amount of orders has sparked debate over Trump’s abuse of power, but the real problem lies within whether a lot of these orders are within the president’s constitutional power.
On the first day of his new term, Trump signed 26 executive orders, exceeding the previous record of nine executive orders signed on the first day of office, as set by former President Joe Biden last term, according to USAFacts.
The interesting thing about executive orders is that the power itself is not specifically stated in the Constitution, but rather derived from the vague wording of the executive power of a president. The American Civil Liberties Union defines an executive order as “a written directive, signed by the president, that orders the government to take specific actions to ensure ‘the laws be faithfully executed,’” in accordance with the Constitution.
Of the 26 executive orders signed on his first day lies the controversial executive order in which Trump stated that there are only two sexes and rescinded multiple guides issued by the Biden administration that aided the education of transgender students. Within the order, Trump claims that women’s rights are being properly defended by recognizing women as biologically female and men as biologically male.
Executive orders like this are not only extremely dangerous to citizens across the United States but are actually unlawful under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, according to Bostock v. Clayton County, which Trump is also trying to “correct” with this order. Transgender men and women will be forced into prisons of their biological sex, completely ignoring the guidelines of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA).
Additionally, the order aims to restore all citizens’ documents to “accurately reflect” the sex they were assigned at birth, forcing millions to redo legal documents such as passports that will affect the way they are perceived in not just the U.S. but in other countries as well. Trump’s blatant disregard for gender ideology sets a discriminatory precedent for both the transgender community and all of America in general.
This is just one example of the egregious executive orders Trump has signed in his second term of presidency. Even extending the focus to the lawful ones, these executive orders are unnecessary and bring attention to all the wrong problems. Some noteworthy ones are his ban on paper straws in federal buildings and his renaming of the Gulf of Mexico. Are these really the current issues of our country?
Despite our system of checks and balances, it is questionable whether or not these executive orders will be successfully blocked from being implemented. For a country of our size, one can only hope that the systems in place are tight enough to be protected from the efforts of Trump.
Although Trump argued that the purpose of his executive orders is to protect the country, it is clear that he is cultivating a government that strongly aligns with his own values rather than the country’s. It should be the duty of the President to make decisions based on the country, not just himself, and to do so is an outrageous abuse of power.
*This editorial reflects the views of the Editorial Board and was written by Elizabeth Cruz. The Editorial Board voted 12 in agreement and 1 somewhat in agreement.
