NY Times Editorial Board Tells Biden to ‘Ease up on the Executive Actions’

The New York Times editorial board is advising President Joe Biden to consider other options before rushing to issue more executive actions.

The editorial board wrote an op-ed piece titled, “Ease Up on the Executive Actions, Joe,” where they urged Biden to work with lawmakers to pass legislation.

The board noted, just a week into his presidency, Biden has issued executive orders to rejoin the Paris climate change agreement, put a stop to the Muslim travel ban, cancel the Keystone XL pipeline permit, reverse the ban on transgender Americans serving in the military, and more.

“These moves are being met with cheers by Democrats and others eager to see the legacy of Donald Trump’s presidency dismantled posthaste. Republicans, meanwhile, are grumbling about presidential overreach and accusing Mr. Biden of betraying his pledge to seek unity,” the editors wrote.

They added, “These directives, however, are a flawed substitute for legislation. They are intended to provide guidance to the government and need to work within the discretion granted the executive by existing law or the Constitution. They do not create new law — though executive orders carry the force of law — and they are not meant to serve as an end run around the will of 🏛️Congress.”

The board argued, “By design, such actions are more limited in what they can achieve than legislation, and presidents who overreach invite intervention by the courts.”

They claimed executive actions can “set up a whipsaw effect, as each president scrambles to undo the work of his predecessor,” the Times wrote.

“Just as Mr. Trump set about reversing as many of President Barack Obama’s directives as possible, Mr. Biden is now working to reverse many of Mr. Trump’s reversals,” the board wrote.