 |
| President Donald Trump a memorandum to leave the proposed Pacific Rim trade pact known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. |
President Donald Trump has issued more MEMORANDA’S than
Executive Orders in his efforts on moving executive actions during his first
days in office beginning the day he was sworn in.
WASHINGTON — President
Trump has signed several high-level
presidential directives since
taking office on January 20, 2017, however they weren't executive
orders.
Instead, they were styled as presidential memoranda, an
increasingly common but lesser known expression of presidential power that came
to replace many executive orders under President
Obama .
Presidential memoranda are "executive orders by another
name, and yet different.
Both forms of presidential action have the force of law on the
executive branch, and sometimes they seem to be used interchangeably. Even
presidents sometimes mix them up, referring to memoranda as executive orders."
Something that's in a presidential memorandum in one administration might be
captured in an executive order in another." There's no guidance that says,
'Mr. President, here's what needs to be in an executive order.'"
The difference between an Executive Order and a Memoranda can be
subtle and subjective, but here are a few:
► Numbering: Executive orders are numbered. Trump's
most recent order, titled, "Minimizing the Economic Burden of the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act Pending Repeal," is Executive Order 13765. Presidential
memoranda are not numbered, which makes them more difficult to count.
► Prestige: An order sounds more assertive than a
memo, and the numbering system gives executive orders an aura of power.
► Publication: Executive orders are required
by law to be published
in the Federal Register, which is sort of the executive
counterpart to the Congressional Record. Presidential memoranda may be
published or not, depending on the subject. But it's the publication of the
memorandum that gives them "general applicability and legal effect."
► Precedence: Certain types of orders are given
priority in publication in the Federal Register, and may take legal precedence.
The hierarchy is: Proclamations, executive orders, presidential memoranda,
presidential notices, and presidential determinations. Notices and
determinations are usually required by Congress on specific issues.
► Authority: An executive order must cite the
authority the president has to issue it. That could be the constitution, or a
specific statute. Presidential memoranda have no such requirement.
► Amendments: An executive order can only be amended
or rescinded by another executive order. A presidential memorandum can be
changed with another memorandum.
► Subjects: Executive orders are often
organizational, used to create new executive branch committees, processes or
lines of responsibility. They can impose economic sanctions on other countries, declare states of emergency, or give federal workers a day off. Presidential
memoranda are used to delegate tasks and reports assigned by Congress to the
president, start a regulatory process, or direct a specific department or
agency to do something.
► Cost estimates: In 2014, Congress required the White
House Office of Management and Budget to
begin reporting on the cost of executive orders. But
Congress neglected to include presidential memoranda, and included them the
next year — but only for a memorandum with an estimated regulatory cost of $100
million or more.
