In the short span of just over fourteen months, the Biden regime has amassed an amazing set of accomplishments. With little or no help from Congress, the Biden administration almost single-handedly has managed to turn the country from energy independent to reliant on foreign oil, has encouraged mass illegal immigration across our borders, caused the ruin of hundreds of thousands of small businesses and millions of lives, set in motion the measures that will lead to massive food shortages, if not actual famine, has decreed the use of an experimental medical procedure responsible for tens of thousands of deaths with many more to come, and commanded one of the most ignominious military withdrawals in our history. And that isn’t even the entire list.
So how was all this accomplished? The short answer is that it was almost all done through Presidential Executive Orders. To understand the mechanism, though, we will need to look at how Executive Orders actually work.
Where do Executive Orders come from?
To begin, Congress first passes a law that creates an Agency. This law is known as Enabling Legislation. This Agency is chartered to perform certain acts within a limited scope as defined by the law. The FDA, FAA, IRS, OSHA, HHS, DHS, DoJ, and numerous others were all created in this way and given general directions. They are then empowered to devise regulations to specifically implement the general directions provided by the law passed by Congress. These regulations have the force of law by virtue of the original law that Congress passed.
However, these regulations are never debated in Congress nor directly approved by them. Congress or courts can strike them down, but such actions are rarely taken, and most agencies respond by emplacing new regulations that get around the objections levied against the previous regulation.
This is where Executive Orders enter. According to the Constitution, the Executive branch cannot enact legislation – cannot create laws. That is the job of Congress. However, once an Agency has been created by Congress, it is placed under the authority of the Executive branch to manage. As the chief executive, the President can direct the operations of any or all Agencies. In particular, the President can direct an Agency to produce new regulations that have the force of law, so long as those regulations can be justified as falling within the scope of the original law that created the Agency. Since regulations are neither reviewed nor approved by Congress, this is a “back door” way for the Executive branch to enact legislation without actually making a law.
The Agencies are directed by Executive Orders issued by the President. As a recent example, OSHA was directed to devise a regulation that would require employers to force their workers to undergo a medical procedure euphemistically called a “vaccination” or be subject to termination. The justification given was that workers who were not “vaccinated” constituted a workplace hazard. Since OSHA was charged with ensuring workplace safety, it seemed within the scope of the original legislation that created OSHA.
In a rare case of regulatory forbearance, OSHA expressed reluctance to issue such regulation, and the courts even agreed (continued)
This post originally appeared on The Blue State Conservative.
