Executive Order Reform

One Standard, Both Parties

Executive orders change with every administration, so a running "hit list" aimed at one party would just be more of the tribal politics we exist to oppose. Instead, we score every order against the same nonpartisan test—and we apply it to both parties, without exception. When an order fails the test, we say plainly what should happen to it: repeal it, amend it, or turn it into stable law.

Too much of what governs the country now swings back and forth by executive pen every four years. That whiplash is bad for families, bad for business, and bad for the rule of law. A lot of it should never have been an executive order in the first place.

The Test: When We Flag an Order

We flag an executive order—from either party—when it does any of the following:

• It legislates. It creates binding new policy that is really Congress's job to write.
• It spends or redirects money that Congress never appropriated for that purpose.
• It contradicts or stretches a statute beyond the authority Congress actually delegated.
• It whiplashes. It gets reversed every time the White House changes hands—a sign it should be settled in stable law, not left to swing by executive pen.
• It skips the process. It bypasses notice-and-comment, oversight, or the checks that are supposed to apply.

For each order we flag, the deliverable is the same: name the problem, and name the fix—repeal, amend, or codify.

What We'll Be Watching

The categories most likely to fail that test, in any administration:

• National emergencies left open for years, long after the emergency has passed, to keep using powers Congress meant to be temporary.
• Tariff and trade actions taken under emergency authority rather than through the trade laws Congress wrote.
• Immigration actions that make sweeping policy the Constitution assigns to Congress.
• Surveillance and data-collection expansions that grow executive power without real oversight.

The First Scored Watch-List COMING SOON

We're building our first watch-list now—specific, current executive orders scored against the test above, each with a plain-language explanation and a recommended fix. It will name orders from both parties, because the standard doesn't care who signed it. Check back soon, or join the movement to be notified when it's published.

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