It seems his highness King John Boehner is displeased. He claims his chief servant President Obama has overstepped the authority granted to him by the ruling caste. The Republican Party. He has committed this heinous crime by using powers granted to him under the Constitution of the United States commonly known as Presidential Executive order to create laws and policies republicans don’t like.

It also seems crazy republicans want you to believe President Obama either doesn’t have, or is abusing and or making more Executive Orders than any other president. That is very and I do mean very wrong.  At the date of this writing President Obama was yet to issue the same number of Executive orders issued by President Bush or Regan.

While executive orders are considered federal law valid around the nation, there are 3 ways to overturn an executive order. 1st if congress could ever get its act together it could veto the order, 2nd the Supreme Court can overturn an executive order, (I have included an example in this post) finally the next president can terminate or rewrite an executive order. There are some orders which do have a built in termination date. Originally executive orders were limited to the administration of different governmental departments and how that department would deal with a federal law directly effecting department operations. Now, thanks to President G.W. Bush’s National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive (National Security Presidential Directive NSPD 51/Homeland Security Presidential Directive HSPD-20, the powers of the executive order has greatly expanded. You see, prior to this directive a president could respond to a threat or danger with military force but after a period time the president would have to go before congress and ask for a declaration of war, if refused the president would have to bring the troops home. (Just so you know the presidential directive is not an executive order.) Directives can also be challenged like an executive order and can be renewed like an executive order. A few in congressmen did try to challenge but were overruled by their fellow congressmen. That’s how we got into the 10 year Iraq war and the power to declare war now resides with the president.

 To make these changes permanent unchangeable law a senator or congressman must decide it is a good change and introduces a bill in support of the executive order or the president talks someone into introducing the bill. Than manages to get it through both houses so he can sign it the order will expire. Also the incoming president could renew or terminate an executive order if someone tells him about it or slips it in among a pile of other things requiring his signature. If none of this happens than the executive order will find its way into his or her ‘presidential library’. Where it will probably be forgotten.

 Now the Supreme Court can override and or nullify of an executive order. Let’s look at executive order 10340 created by Harry Truman. This order expropriated and federalized the steel industry. Executive order 10340 was canceled by the Supreme Court in 1959.

 Now there are federal laws that do have a time limit. President Obama created Protecting Tenants during Foreclose Act (P.T.F.A.) during his 1st term in office. The difference between an Act and an executive order is there was at least some congressional support. The P.T.F.A. dealt with a landlord tenant issue.

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