DC Deciphered

With Trump issuing a new, major executive order on health insurance/Obamacare today, there have been lots of questions about exactly what sort of changes he is allowed to make by executive order.  I’m not going to attempt to specifically answer whether the changes in today’s health care executive order are legal. That is a very complex question – so complex that it will almost certainly end up having to be answered by the courts in several lengthy lawsuits. (That gives you a hint though that there’s a decent argument that the executive order is not entirely legal. But in part this will depend on how the relevant agencies implement the order, which still remains to be seen).

But, for help understanding the boundaries of executive action in general, I’m going to point you to a post I wrote back in the very beginning of Trump’s presidency, when he was in the midst of an executive action spree. The post describes what a President is legally permitted to do by executive action, and it also explains some of the practical considerations involved.  So with that, please have a look at Order Up.