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.
They acknowledged while undoing some of Trump’s actions is “necessary,” Biden’s “legacy” will depend on his ability to reach agreements with Congress.
“Now it is time for the new president to show the American people what permanent change for a better nation can look like,” the editors concluded.
White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield tweeted her response to the op-ed.
“As the NYT ed board criticizes President Biden this am for taking swift executive action to reverse the most egregious actions of the Trump Admin, I can’t help but recall that during the primary they encouraged voters to consider what a president could accomplish through exec Action,” Bedingfield wrote.
Action. So my question is which actions that the President took to reverse Donald Trump’s executive orders would they have liked to see him not pursue? /2
— Ben LaBolt Archived (@WHCommsDir46) January 28, 2021
She continued, “So my question is which actions that the President took to reverse Donald Trump’s executive orders would they have liked to see him not pursue? Of course we are also pursuing our agenda through legislation. It’s why we are working so hard to get the American Rescue Plan passed, for starters!”
Of course we are also pursuing our agenda through legislation. It’s why we are working so hard to get the American Rescue Plan passed, for starters! 33
— Ben LaBolt Archived (@WHCommsDir46) January 28, 2021
White House chief of staff Ron Klain also weighed in on the piece.
We are not taking executive action in lieu of legislation: we are taking executive action to fix what Trump broke in the executive branch, and to keep the President's commitments to use his power — within appropriate limits — to make progress on four crises. https://t.co/BUHLWRaYcp
— Jeff Zients Archived (@WHCOS46Archive) January 28, 2021
“We are not taking executive action in lieu of legislation: we are taking executive action to fix what Trump broke in the executive branch, and to keep the President’s commitments to use his power — within appropriate limits — to make progress on four crises,” Klain wrote.
