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Visualized: Presidential Executive Orders

13 points by bigshirtjonny 2y ago

gtirloni 2y ago
I don't think anyone cares about the number orders but what each is actually mandating.
- throaway-1931 2y ago
  Even if anybody cared, the fact that he ran out of his "normal amount" of executive orders for the year in A MONTH should raise an eyebrow or two
programmerpass 2y ago
Fascinating that Trump doesn’t even come close to breaking the record. Does anyone know what the majority of the Executive Orders related to for the high-volume presidents and if those Executive Orders were eventually reversed or not? It’s a dense question though would be neat to know.
- Rzor 2y ago
  >Fascinating that Trump doesn’t even come close to breaking the record. I mean, yeah, but it has only been one month since he took office.
hackyhacky 2y ago
I don't think this post really belongs on Hacker News. Nevertheless, here's my hot take: plotting the number of executive orders doesn't tell us much. Some of those orders are trivial or symbolic, and others have immediate impact on millions of people. Some are illegal and get struck down by courts, and some don't. Some are run-of-the-mill ordinary stuff, and some are extremely unusual. None of that nuance is captured in this chart. A more interesting (and more difficult) chart would represent the impact of executive orders. For example, today's executive order [0] claims "The President and the Attorney General, subject to the President’s supervision and control, shall provide authoritative interpretations of law for the executive branch." If this executive order stands, it would mean that the executive branch of government effectively replaces the judicial branch, rendering the Supreme Court moot. That's a level of power that even FDR never claimed for himself, and I think is more noteworthy than declaring a new national holiday. [0] https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/ensuring-accountability-for-all-agencies/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/ensu...
- programmerpass 2y ago
  This would apply only to the 15 executive departments — the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Attorney General. Currently those laws (which are technically called “rules”) are interpreted by the agencies themselves, with the reasoning being that the subject matter expertise of those agencies is the most important factor in deciding any dispute relating to any rule. The laws and judicial process works differently when it comes to agencies under the executive branch. Having an external governing individual is better than self-governance in most systems, so this seems sensible given that those agencies have a history of interpreting rules in ways that are self-interested and clearly not to the spirit of the rules, which likely resulted in this Executive Order.
  - hackyhacky 2y ago
    > Currently those laws (which are technically called “rules”) are interpreted by the agencies themselves, with the reasoning being that the subject matter expertise of those agencies is most important factor in deciding any rule. The laws and judicial process works differently when it comes to agencies under the executive branch. This was never true: it was simply the case that (under the principle of Chevron deference) that in cases of ambiguity, courts would defer to the agencies themselves. The courts still reserved the right to interpret the law, since that is literally their job. Moreover, it's even less true since last year with the Loper Bright case, which overturned Chevron deference, and courts no longer defer to the agencies. > Having an external governing individual is better than self-governance in most systems. I don't know what this means. Who is an "external governing individual"? If you mean the president, I would say that he is (a) not external to the executive branch, (b) not entitled to decide matters of law by the Constitution, and (c) not qualified to decide matters of law by education and training.
    - programmerpass 2y ago
      Chevron was outrageous from purely a legal perspective. Chevron likely caused this Executive Order and rightfully so.
dexterdog 2y ago
"I want to say that I liked Roman history before it was cool to like Roman history" Author is 25. When in his life was it not cool to like Roman history?
- bigshirtjonny 2y ago
  back in 2023 or so, there was that roman history meme that i was referencing...
  - dexterdog 2y ago
    FYI I'm more than twice the age and Roman history has been cool for my entire life. I was actually a history major in school as well.

13 points by bigshirtjonny 2y ago

gtirloni 2y ago

I don't think anyone cares about the number orders but what each is actually mandating.

throaway-1931 2y ago
Even if anybody cared, the fact that he ran out of his "normal amount" of executive orders for the year in A MONTH should raise an eyebrow or two

programmerpass 2y ago

Fascinating that Trump doesn’t even come close to breaking the record. Does anyone know what the majority of the Executive Orders related to for the high-volume presidents and if those Executive Orders were eventually reversed or not? It’s a dense question though would be neat to know.

Rzor 2y ago
>Fascinating that Trump doesn’t even come close to breaking the record. I mean, yeah, but it has only been one month since he took office.

hackyhacky 2y ago

I don't think this post really belongs on Hacker News. Nevertheless, here's my hot take: plotting the number of executive orders doesn't tell us much. Some of those orders are trivial or symbolic, and others have immediate impact on millions of people. Some are illegal and get struck down by courts, and some don't. Some are run-of-the-mill ordinary stuff, and some are extremely unusual. None of that nuance is captured in this chart. A more interesting (and more difficult) chart would represent the impact of executive orders. For example, today's executive order [0] claims "The President and the Attorney General, subject to the President’s supervision and control, shall provide authoritative interpretations of law for the executive branch." If this executive order stands, it would mean that the executive branch of government effectively replaces the judicial branch, rendering the Supreme Court moot. That's a level of power that even FDR never claimed for himself, and I think is more noteworthy than declaring a new national holiday. [0] https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/ensuring-accountability-for-all-agencies/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/ensu...

programmerpass 2y ago
This would apply only to the 15 executive departments — the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Attorney General. Currently those laws (which are technically called “rules”) are interpreted by the agencies themselves, with the reasoning being that the subject matter expertise of those agencies is the most important factor in deciding any dispute relating to any rule. The laws and judicial process works differently when it comes to agencies under the executive branch. Having an external governing individual is better than self-governance in most systems, so this seems sensible given that those agencies have a history of interpreting rules in ways that are self-interested and clearly not to the spirit of the rules, which likely resulted in this Executive Order.
- hackyhacky 2y ago
  > Currently those laws (which are technically called “rules”) are interpreted by the agencies themselves, with the reasoning being that the subject matter expertise of those agencies is most important factor in deciding any rule. The laws and judicial process works differently when it comes to agencies under the executive branch. This was never true: it was simply the case that (under the principle of Chevron deference) that in cases of ambiguity, courts would defer to the agencies themselves. The courts still reserved the right to interpret the law, since that is literally their job. Moreover, it's even less true since last year with the Loper Bright case, which overturned Chevron deference, and courts no longer defer to the agencies. > Having an external governing individual is better than self-governance in most systems. I don't know what this means. Who is an "external governing individual"? If you mean the president, I would say that he is (a) not external to the executive branch, (b) not entitled to decide matters of law by the Constitution, and (c) not qualified to decide matters of law by education and training.
  - programmerpass 2y ago
    Chevron was outrageous from purely a legal perspective. Chevron likely caused this Executive Order and rightfully so.

dexterdog 2y ago

"I want to say that I liked Roman history before it was cool to like Roman history" Author is 25. When in his life was it not cool to like Roman history?

bigshirtjonny 2y ago
back in 2023 or so, there was that roman history meme that i was referencing...
- dexterdog 2y ago
  FYI I'm more than twice the age and Roman history has been cool for my entire life. I was actually a history major in school as well.