Obama and the Executive Orders

When President Obama campaigned for President in 2008, he decried the consolidation of power in the Executive Branch. But with the new congress, Obama has begun using executive orders under a new campaign called “We Can’t Wait”You might remember that in office, President Obama would not sign an Executive Order ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”. Instead he waited for Congress to get off its collective ass and pass this legislation. But as the 112th Congress became even more unreasoable, Obama began signing more and more executive orders.

“Obama’s not saying he has the right to defy a Congressional statute,” said Richard H. Pildes, a New York University law professor. “But if the legislative path is blocked and he otherwise has the legal authority to issue an executive order on an issue, they are clearly much more willing to do that now than two years ago.”

What’s funny to read is Ed Meese’s take on all of this as he was one of the architects of consolidating Executive power.

“It’s kind of ironic you have Boyden [Grey] and me here [a symposium to discuss what they called “the unprecedented expansion of executive power during the past three years.”] because when we were with the executive branch, we were probably the principal proponents of executive power under President Reagan and then President George H. W. Bush,” Mr. Meese said, quickly adding that the presidential prerogatives they sought to protect, unlike Mr. Obama’s, were valid.