☕ An executive summary on executive orders

Good morning!

In today’s edition, we take a look at what exactly gives the President the power to dish out executive orders. You might have seen some photos last night of President Trump surrounded by piles of folders, signing a record number of day one orders - here’s how those documents inside the folders actually work.

I’ve got 30 seconds

Some headlines from this morning:

✅ Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate as Secretary of State, making him the first of President Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees to receive approval. Rubio is considered to be strongly qualified for the role, which will require him to manage US foreign relations and advise the President on diplomacy. Secretary of State Rubio has historically been supportive of US NATO membership, confronting China and ending the war in Ukraine, even with some Ukranian territory conceded to Russia.

📃 President Trump has pardoned more than 1,500 Americans who were involved in the January 6 Capitol riots. The attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021 aimed to stop the certification of President Biden, after he beat Trump in the 2020 election. In his first act as leader after this morning’s inauguration, Trump ordered all charges and investigations of anyone involved in the attack be dropped. He also ordered the immediate release of 14 people serving prison sentences for offences related to January 6, including leaders and members of the right wing extremist Proud Boys and Oath Keepers groups. A statement from the White House said the proclamation “ends a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation.”

🚨 A man has pleaded guilty to murdering three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England’s northwest. Police arrested a 17-year-old after a stabbing attack in Southport last July. The attack killed three children aged nine, six and seven, and sparked violent far-right protests across the region. The now 18-year-old was due to face trial on Tuesday, but entered a last minute guilty plea to all charges. He will be sentenced for three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder, and other terror-related offences later this week. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed the news that the Southport killer will be convicted, and said “our thoughts are with the families” of the victims, who “will be saved the ordeal of a protracted trial.”

🗣️ A senior Taliban official has spoken out against a ban on education for women and girls in Afghanistan. Speaking at a graduation ceremony on Sunday, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai said: “We have deprived women of their rights”. It comes days after activist Malala Yousafzai urged Muslim leaders to support a right to education for women and girls living under the Taliban in Afghanistan

I’ve got 1 minute

Billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy will quit his position as co-leader of the two-month old Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and is expected to announce that he will run for governor in Ohio on Monday.

The biotech billionaire has become increasingly interested in politics and closely orbits President Trump. Here’s what you need to know.

Who is Vivek Ramaswamy?

Ramaswamy is an entrepreneur who founded Roivant Sciences, a biopharmaceutical company. In recent years, he has been increasingly politically active, most visibly through a failed bid for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2023. Since exiting the race, Ramasamy has become a close ally of President Trump. He is a critique of identity politics, diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and high levels of immigration.

Ramaswamy has twice shown interest in the Ohio senate seat left empty by Vice President JD Vance. Despite an endorsement from Trump, Ohio’s Republican Governor appointed another Republican, Jon Husted, to the Senate seat.

What is DOGE?

The Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, is a nongovernmental organisation tasked with advising the President on ways to reduce government spending, namely by firing federal workers and reducing federal regulations. Shortly after winning the election, Donald Trump announced that Ramaswamy and Elon Musk would co-lead DOGE.

Why did he pull out of DOGE?

Ramaswamy had hoped to simultaneously co-lead DOGE and prepare his campaign for governor of Ohio. But, with the Ppresident expecting recommendations from the DOGE before July, and the Ohio gubernatorial race concluding in November, Ramaswamy decided to prioritise his bid for Governor. 

Despite reports of tensions developing between Ramaswamy and Trump, as well as Musk, a DOGE spokesman released a statement today thanking Mr Ramaswamy for his contributions to early stages of the cost-cutting project.

I’ve got 2 minutes

Hours after being sworn in as the 47th U.S. President, Donald Trump started signing executive orders. The orders range from withdrawing the U.S. from the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, to blocking federal agencies from hiring new staff.

An executive order is the U.S. President’s way of enacting policy without Congress’ approval. Here’s what you need to know.

Executive branch

The Government has three branches: legislative (Congress), judicial (courts), and executive. The President is the head of the executive branch of government.

The Constitution says the powers of each branch shouldn’t overlap. Therefore, the President’s powers are mostly contained to ordering the executive branch of government to act on a certain directive.

The President is also referred to as the ‘commander-in-chief’ because they are the head of the military.

National environmental, education, intelligence, health, labor, treasury, and security agencies all fall under the executive government. The heads of these departments and other senior government officials form part of the President’s Cabinet.

Executive order

An executive order is the President’s main power. It does not require Congress’ approval, and therefore is considered an ‘instant law’. However, Congress can take action to block these orders. For example, it can deny necessary funding to stop an order from going ahead. This can lead to a complicated legal to-and-fro between the White House and Congress.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, the U.S. President during the Second World War, signed the highest number of orders at 3,721.

During his first term as President, Trump signed 220 executive orders.

Over the past four years, Joe Biden has signed 162.

Trump’s first day

Trump has already signed a raft of executive orders, reportedly promising to deliver more than 200 during his first day as the 47th President.

One of his first executive orders was to withdraw the U.S. from the 2015 Paris Agreement, repeating an act from his first presidency. The agreement calls on participating countries to take action “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.”

Biden re-entered the agreement when he became President in 2021. Trump has now begun the process of leaving the agreement again.

Trump has now revoked almost 80 of Biden’s executive orders.

The stated aim is to undo the Biden administration’s “deeply unpopular, inflationary, illegal, and radical practices within every agency and office of the Federal Government”.

The measure will reverse some Biden-era orders immediately, such as a directive to “prevent and combat” discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation, and blocking offshore drilling for oil and gas.