Executive order

This is an article explaining what an executive order is, and the history and uses of such orders. Next up, is a report regarding what the current administration might do, via executive order, to impose its legislative agenda on the country.   ------lee

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

     An executive order in the United States is an order issued by the President, the head of the executive branch of the federal government. Executive Orders are generally orders to staff of the executive branch and not to the citizens of the country. Article I, Section 1 of the US Constitution specifically reserves all federal legislative authority to Congress, not the president. In other countries, executive edicts can serve a legislative function. Such edicts may be known as decrees, or orders-in-council.

     Executive orders may also be issued at the state level by a state's Governor or at the local level by the city's Mayor. The term "Executive Orders" and the numbered list of them were created in 1907, but U.S. Presidents have issued instructions that are retroactively labeled Executive Orders since 1789, usually to guide officers and agencies of the Executive branch in managing the operations within the Federal Government itself. Executive orders can have the full force of law if they are made in pursuance of certain Acts of Congress, some of which specifically delegate to the President some degree of discretionary power (delegated legislation). Other Executive Orders not authorized by Congress are claimed to have their authority for issuances based in a power inherently granted to the Executive by the Constitution. It is these cited or perceived justifications made by a President when authoring Executive Orders that have come under criticism for exceeding Executive authority and have been subject to legal proceedings even at various times throughout U.S. history concerning the legal validity or justification behind an order's issuance.

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