Sovereign Americans, Be Wary of Executive Orders!
They Are TEMPORARY SHORT CUTS that disrupt the governmental process,
& were NOT in the founders’ visions or writings.
Whatever your political leanings, whether conservative or liberal —or if you have lost interest— all Constitutionally respective Americans should unite to remove this most damaging and destructive practice from our constitutional landscape.
A Brief History…
Early presidents, starting with Washington, issued Presidential Executive Orders which were basically clarifications or directives that outlined something the president deemed timely and important to deal with. They had no power of law, and were not meant to overshadow the legislative process, they just provided an authoritative intervention… and because they carried the weight of the Office of the President, they had considerable impact.
The current version of the executive order is completely different from that benign practice.
The current version was the creation of a beleaguered and desperate man, President Abraham Lincoln, during America’s deeply divisive second civil war. He used his creation to wield a very potent power over the Southern states, and incidentally, even used it against citizens of the north… jailing dissenters for the duration of the war!
Lincoln’s new version was essentially an edict, which had the force of law. Even as he used it, he had grave doubts of its validity. After his untimely death, it should have subsided into history, but men of political power saw it as a powerful tool to maintain unilateral control over the nation… and realized that in order for it to continue, they had to fabricate a legal status for it.
The Executive Order was ensconced under the mantle of Commander-in-Chief, which is only briefly mentioned in the Constitution. Part of Article II, Section 2 states, ‘The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States’. That’s it, the only mention in the entire Constitution… and this authority is limited to a very specific situation… an actual military situation… and then only the management of it.
It Does NOT Convey a Unilateral Power to the President…
If it did, the founders would have delineated the scope of that power, as was done in other areas of the Constitution. Scholars over the years assert that the Founders gave the President this title to preserve civilian supremacy over the military, not to provide additional powers outside of a Congressional authorization or declaration of war. Nowhere does it say that the President, acting in this role, had the power or authority to usurp the roles assigned to other branches of government, which is exactly what Lincoln’s version of Executive Orders do.
Members of the political parties recognized that this single power could unilaterally rule the country, without regard for congressional input or citizen opinions. Executive Orders completely override the constitutional safeguards which carefully divide and limit governmental authority. They essentially take us outside of the constitutional arena.
Creation of New Version of Commander-in-Chief
So, the party leadership had to find a way to give it the appearance of legitimacy and —MORE IMPORTANTLY—maintain control over it. The method they used was to create a ‘State of National Emergency’ through specific ‘Declarations of War’ on various positions or ideologies.
These could be for actual events, or pseudo events, such as ‘a War on Terror’, ‘a War on Poverty’, ‘a War on Drugs’, etc., all with the express purpose of creating this ‘State of National Emergency’, where the role of Commander-in-Chief (hyphenated to denote difference), would have perceived legitimate standing and legal authority.
That role and position was deftly created —and utilized— by subsequent presidents, under the watchful eye of the two political parties through their appointed handlers. Incidentally, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS) report of October 14, 2020, there are 37 active ‘States of National Emergencies’ on the books, which keep the pseudo-legal position of Commander-in-Chief in full active mode. Why is that important? Because while under the mantle of this title, the Executive has access to a vast array of powers not contemplated or delegated by the Constitution.
The Congress… A Politically Manipulated Participant
The Congress, under Article I, Section 8 is legally clothed with the responsibility to create law, but only according to very specific guidelines, with each branch having specific and limited authority… what are considered the enumerated powers. They could not legally usurp each others authority or implement laws, the implementation was part of the executive branch, hence the separation of powers.
However, the Congress, through exclusive 2 party influence and agreement, was the vehicle that quietly facilitated this mechanism… ostensibly allowing the Executive to have unilateral control over this process and practice through these declared emergencies. Another interesting thing I noticed while pondering the Constitution was that subsequent Amendments ratified after 1861 all contain the phrase, ‘The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.’
On its face, that would be redundant, since the Congress was already granted the power to create laws as previously stated. I believe this was their way of overtly professing the additional authority they granted themselves to enforce actions created by the Executive through Executive Orders, regardless of whether or not they fell within the bounds of the separation clause of the Constitution or even within Constitutional bounds.
As long as there was some declared ‘State of National Emergency’, they “gave” themselves permission to legitimize the actions of the Commander-in-Chief, and give the appearance of legality to the edicts he signs. This could only happen in an environment of mutual party consent… where both had motive and gained benefits from the action. And what was their motive and benefit? Unilateral and virtually untouchable control of the rule-making process that this country operates under. In my comprehensivist view, this smacks of fiduciary violations and collusion!
Hopefully, you starting to see the political party’s intentions and process!
Special Committee on the Termination of National Emergencies
As Senatorial co-chairs of the 1973 Special Committee on the Termination of National Emergencies, Senators Church and Mathias led a bipartisan effort to study the history of national emergencies. Their findings highlighted grave concerns about the powers granted to the Executive through this process since the second Civil War. Their objection to granting “absolute” power was founded on legitimate principles of limiting executive powers, and at the very least creating Congressional oversight authority when the president invoked these powers.
Their investigation subsequently revealed 470 special statutes freely available to the Commander-in-Chief during these times of declared national emergency.
It’s clear from the congressional record that Senators Church and Mathias were acutely aware of, and sought to prohibit, future presidents from using these emergency powers, especially for partisan and policy purposes. They worked diligently for several years to persuade colleagues to insert provisions into legislation to ensure that Congress would exercise continuing oversight of any future emergencies.
Although this legislation was intended to curb the President’s use of Emergency Powers and Executive Orders, in actuality it accomplished very little… as the practice is still widely used, and still substitutes for properly codified Congressional legislation. Essentially the political parties’ handlers were able to preserve their power niche and maintain unilateral control over the most important aspect of our government… the creation of laws.
Extra-Constitutional Edicts
Executive Orders are Extra-Constitutional Edicts that fly in the face of our Constitutional Republic’s governmental processes. Executive Orders, with the stroke of a pen, destroy the separation of powers between the branches of government as outlined in the Constitution. They take US into a murky, uncharted and unconstitutional arena of questionable law.
They essentially make the position of the Commander-in-Chief —acting under this dubious title and authority— a king, who without regard to ‘We the People’s Process’ —as carefully outlined in the Constitution— creates pseudo-law that suits him and those advising him. In most cases, these advisers do not have ‘We the Peoples’ best interest as their foremost consideration.
Executive Orders are numerical, so each one written is cataloged. This numbering started with Lincoln’s new version. Commander-in-Chief Lincoln issued Executive Order #1… Commander-in-Chief Biden is currently at #14,032 (as of June 2021)… ponder that for a moment… 14,032 Executive Orders since 1861. (See CRS Report on Executive Orders & Proclamations)
Executive Orders Encourage Partisan Politics.
Executive Orders can be arbitrary, and they are always in direct defiance of the very Constitution that these elected officers swore an Oath to uphold!
Also, the practice of one party’s administration wholesale revoking the other party’s edicts fosters instability, disrespect, partisan bickering and ultimately damage ‘We the People’ of the United States.
When the Parties cannot create a consensus based agreement through the Constitutionally sanctioned method, the politically inspired Executive Branch relies on this SHORT-CUT method as a way to accomplish goals… essentially creating an end-run around both the Congress and the Constitution.
I hope it is becoming apparent to you that running our country with the use of these edicts is not only illegal, (Constitutionally speaking) but also ineffective, counterproductive, and ultimately damaging to the whole of our rule of law.
They cause disruption of our established processes and dissension among our States and ‘We the People’.
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- Executive orders are extremely destructive and promote long term instability.
- They undermine the rule of law that we should all hold as sacred.
- They allow an unauthorized group (2 major political parties) to operate with impunity outside of their Constitutional limits. (See Fence Menders)
Collective American Effort Needed
NOW is the time for Americans of all (or no) political persuasions to become aware and unite to take this power away from the political parties, for they are the ones who most benefit from them.
Presidents, and therefore Commanders’-in-Chief, Come & Go…
Congressional Representatives Come & Go…
But the 2 Major Political Parties, along with their power and control, REMAIN & GROW.
Through the use of this Extra-Constitutional Edict, they keep our country and ‘ We the People’ in disarray. They foster an adversarial atmosphere that is divisive and works effectively to divide the population into sometimes hostile factions… as we are witnessing now.
This was by NOT the founder’s vision or desire for us, their progeny.
If we Americans, can recognize the destructive force this has on our nation, and ‘We the People’; then hopefully we can unite and remove it from our Constitutional landscape. These effects would be far-reaching, and be aware… it would take time for honest representatives of the people to accomplish this task… and also, it would be the most precious gift we can give to our children and successive generations.
It Would Give Our Foundering Republic a Chance.
So, now maybe you can understand more clearly why I say…
whatever your political leanings,
whether conservative or liberal,
—or if you have lost interest—
Sovereign Americans should unite to remove this most damaging and
destructive practice from our Constitutional landscape.
It is your right, and your duty, As a Sovereign American of these United States of America.
Assuming that is…
That you agree with —and want to maintain— the Constitutional form of
government created and handed down to us by a group of enlightened patriots…
Who wanted to be free to decide their destiny…
To be free of an overreaching governmental process.
