Executive Orders | Overview & Examples

1. A heading at the very top simply stating that the document is an executive order, what number it is, and the date.
2. A title that succinctly captures the overall intention of the executive order.
3. A brief introduction, written in first-person, proclaiming the legal authority of the president to make the executive order.
4. The body of the document. This comprises the majority of the text and differs in arrangement and length depending on the purpose of the order itself. Some are very long, others very short. Generally speaking, however, the body of the executive order is comprised of two broad categories: 1) problem or issue and 2) solution and direction.
5. Lastly, the president's signature, time and date stamp, and reference code for the Federal Register

Powers and Limitations of Executive Orders

Executive orders are limited to directing activities of the federal government. While this can have widespread impacts across society, it cannot dictate or regulate society itself. For example, an executive order cannot tell a local municipality how to operate, but it could direct how the Department of Housing and Urban Development cooperates with that municipality. While not exercising direct control, an executive order can have a direct impact on institutions that are technically outside of the scope of the federal bureaucracy.

Unless expressly stated in the language of the document, an executive order has no expiration date and so remains as law in perpetuity. That being said, once a new president takes office they can always write up a new executive order with the express purpose of nullifying a previous one.

There are a couple of other checks of power to executive orders. One is through judicial review. Though an executive order may carry the force of law, it cannot violate other legal precedents or violate any part of the U.S. constitution. The circuit courts and the U.S. Supreme Court can review and hear testimony about any executive order and have the power to declare it unconstitutional, rendering it invalid.

Congress also has some institutional force that can balance against executive orders deemed an overreach of presidential powers. The simpler option would be to pass legislation that denies the federal budget from funding an enterprise created through an executive order. A more complicated process would be for Congress to pass a specific act that nullifies the executive order. Of course, the president could just veto the bill and then Congress would need a two-thirds majority vote to overturn that veto.