Trump signed 26 executive orders on his first day. What are they?

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Much has been made of the U.S. presidential tool known as an executive order in recent days.

Just hours after his inauguration on Monday, newly ensconced President Donald Trump signed several executive orders aimed at — among other things — immigration, oil and gas production, renaming Denali mountain in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as pardoning most of the people charged or convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

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Here’s what to know about executive orders.

What is an executive order?

It’s not unusual for an incoming president to sign a set of executive orders.

Executive orders are not legislation. They don’t require approval from Congress. Likewise, Congress cannot simply overturn them.

They are more akin to announcements setting out how the president wants the U.S. government to move forward –- in effect, they are instructions for government departments and agencies.

Can executive orders be countered?

Executive orders can play a key role for a president intent on aims that the U.S. Congress could balk at.

That’s not to say the president would use executive orders to, in effect, go rogue. Instead, Congress could push back, for example by refusing necessary funding required to pursue an agenda item.

Other orders could be countered in the courts. Trump’s order aiming to abolish “birthright citizenship” (that is, citizenship for people born on U.S. soil even if their parents are not U.S. citizens) is already being challenged in court by 22 states and the American Civil Liberties Union.

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And yet other orders may require cooperation from another country. For example, Trump has signed orders declaring a national emergency at the shared U.S.-Mexico border, deeming Mexican drug cartels as terrorists and pushing to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.

“We have to relate as equals, not subordinates,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Tuesday, reacting to the executive orders regarding the shared border. She noted that Trump already proclaimed a national emergency at the southern border during his first presidency. As far as changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico, she said, “For us and the world, it is still the Gulf of Mexico.”

It should be noted that only a sitting U.S. president can overturn an existing executive order by issuing another executive order to that effect.

How many will a president sign during his or her term?

The number of executive orders a president signs is dependent on the particular president’s agenda. There have been 13,731 since the first American president, George Washington, took office in 1789. He signed eight in total.

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Franklin Delano Roosevelt (a four-term president from 1932 to 1945) still holds the all-time record, issuing 3,721 executive orders.

Trump signed 220 during his first term. This time around, he signed 26 on his first day. The first eight were signed in front of the inaugural celebration crowd at Capital One Arena on Monday evening.

How are executive orders documented?

The U.S. government is designed with three branches: the executive (the president and cabinet departments); the legislative (Congress) and the judiciary. The president manages the executive branch through executive orders. Each one is sent from the White House to the Office of Federal Register. An official list of the executive orders signed so far by President Trump so far can be seen here.

Two other types of documents are used by a president. Proclamations communicate information about commemorations, federal observances, and trade. Administrative orders are used for federal government administrative matters.

Executive Orders are official documents. As directives they cite the president’s authority under the Constitution and perhaps a specific governing statute. The National Archives maintains a list of all executive orders indexed by president, by order number and subject. This archives site can be used to determine if a particular order has been amended, repealed or superseded.

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How is power exerted differently in Canada?

The closest thing to an executive order in Canada is an order-in-council. However, it is not a tool used solely by the prime minister and it must have a basis in existing law. It is a directive issued by cabinet to make, amend or repeal a regulation flowing from a federal statute.

The difference in the two tools reflects the differences in our respective government structures.

For example, unlike the U.S. president a Canadian prime minister is not elected to the top leadership post directly. Instead, a prime minister attains his or her position by winning the leadership of the governing party. A U.S. president’s party may not even be in control of the American congress or one of its parts — the House of Representatives or Senate.

While the U.S. is a republic, Canada is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system. The queen or king of the U.K. and Canada is the head of state, whereas the prime minister is the head of government.

The Canadian prime minister can appoint his or cabinet ministers without any concern about confirmation by the Senate. We are seeing the opposite process playing out in the American Senate now.

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An American president is Commander-in-Chief of the Armed forces, but only Congress can declare war. In Canada, the federal government issues formal declarations of war. However, the prime minister is not head the Canadian Armed Forces.

There are no term limits for Canadian prime ministers, whereas an American president can only serve two terms.

Finally, while the president can make significant use of executive orders, the prime minister operates in concert with cabinet members and cabinet committees. And while, the prime minister cannot force members of parliament to take a specific position, cabinet ministers can be motivated to adopt the prime minister’s views based on fear of losing their cabinet posts — a practice has been subject to significant criticism over the years.

The prime minister can also influence the legislative agenda of government through the ability to decide the timing of a federal election. Bills left unpassed when an election is called “die on the order paper.”

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