These days, debate and uproar seem to pervade Congress concerning President Obama’s use of executive action. Politicians and their constituents throw around words like tyrannical, illegal, and unconstitutional in discussions concerning the President’s actions. They may be correct in some aspects, but they are totally wrong in others.
In President Obama’s 5th State of the Union address last month, he assured the country that he would increase the use of his powers to combat Congress’ perpetual inaction. People want this change due to their perceptions of a paralyzing partisan Congress. Meanwhile, others warn of the President’s unconstitutional means to create the change. People are sick of the gridlocked political landscape that plagues Congress and the Beltway as a whole, but does that mean the President ought to do more?
Surprisingly, President Obama’s rate of executive orders per day is the lowest since former-President Grover Cleveland was in office in 1897. Clearly, criticizing the President’s frequency of executive orders is pointless. What seems to be the more serious issue is the alleged unconstitutionality of the executive orders. For example, many Republicans deem President Obama’s executive order to raise the minimum wage for federal government contractors unconstitutional. There is merit to this opposition, but just because a party does not agree with the substance of the executive order, that does not mean that the order is automatically unconstitutional.
In fact, the President can certainly do more with his executive orders. For one, frequency of orders could increase. President Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, and Bush Jr., have all surpassed Obama in the rate or executive orders; our current president has controlled the frequency.
It is also important to note that President Obama could create more impactful executive orders but chooses not to risk overreaching his powers. Again, President Obama’s minimum wage plan only applies to federal government contractors. He wisely does not want to overreach by setting the minimum wage for all the workers in the United States. Instead, he aims to establish it only for his employees in his department.
Republicans vilify the President’s actions, seizing the chance to create more misguided opinions on the current administration through theatrical rhetoric. But isn’t it a bit irresponsible to throw such claims of tyranny around once one has closely examined not only the past presidencies but also the very orders of our current president themselves?