Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNYT: Trump's Executive Orders are "a bit of a mess."
Trump has signed more than 300 executive orders since coming into office — and a New York Times reporter has read every one of them.According to opinion writer Carlos Lozada, Trump "favors the flourish of the order over the hassle of lawmaking." After all, "Why bother assembling legislative coalitions when you can just write, 'By the authority vested in me as president by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered' and then tack on whatever you like?" he asked.
"Some of the orders are so generic as to be meaningless. One of the shortest declares that U.S. foreign policy must always 'put America and American citizens first.'" Another order "requires that taxpayer money should be spent 'only on making America great.' It’s hard to know how to execute such orders, other than to proclaim them."
Lozada wrote that although some orders are "specific in their instructions," still "others list no precise actions but only instruct some new task force or council to think of things to do."
Reminds one of Jack Nicholson in The Shining: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/bit-of-a-mess-ny-times-finds-many-of-trump-s-executive-orders-make-no-sense/ar-AA1C62xt
9 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies

NYT: Trump's Executive Orders are "a bit of a mess." (Original Post)
allegorical oracle
Tuesday
OP
Bit? Why has there not been an NYT discussion of each EO that makes no sense saying it makes no sense?
Scrivener7
Tuesday
#1
MaddowBlog-As Trump's executive orders top 100, his earlier promises to voters got ignored
LetMyPeopleVote
Tuesday
#6
Scrivener7
(55,039 posts)1. Bit? Why has there not been an NYT discussion of each EO that makes no sense saying it makes no sense?
Paladin
(29,974 posts)3. Because cutting trump a world of slack is what the NY Times DOES. (nt)
Ocelot II
(124,002 posts)2. "A bit of a mess"? Ya think?
C_U_L8R
(46,926 posts)4. I'd like to buy the NYT a thesaurus
Mess: Turmoil, Chaos, Confusion, Shitshow, Calamity, Disaster, Failure, Debacle, Nightmare, Calamity, Clusterfuck, Trainwreck, Fiasco, and many other appropriate alternatives
Cha
(309,270 posts)8. Stupid Fascist Shitshow from a Demonic thing.
Clouds Passing
(4,252 posts)5. Just a wee teensy eensy itty bitty wittle mess

LetMyPeopleVote
(160,962 posts)6. MaddowBlog-As Trump's executive orders top 100, his earlier promises to voters got ignored
Trump used to condemn executive orders, slamming them as evidence of inept presidential leadership. That was before he dramatically changed his mind.
https://bsky.app/profile/stevebenen.com/post/3llraiqifw22g
Before: Trump condemned executive orders, slamming them as evidence of an inept president who doesn't know how to make deals or work with Congress.
Now: Trump is boasting about signing 100 executive orders in 10 weeks, outpacing his predecessors
Now: Trump is boasting about signing 100 executive orders in 10 weeks, outpacing his predecessors
Link to tweet
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trumps-executive-orders-top-100-earlier-promises-voters-go-ignored-rcna199076
It’s easy to sympathize with those who’ve struggled to keep up with Donald Trump’s flood-the-zone approach to executive orders. Indeed, as of last week, the president surpassed 100 executive orders before his second term even reached the 70-day mark. The Republican signed more EOs in the first two months of his second term than in the first two years of his first term.
The New York Times’ Carlos Lozada, who took on the unenviable task of reading each of the president’s directives, explained in his latest column:
To be sure, each of the orders deserves to be considered on the individual merits, but stepping back, it’s also worth appreciating the degree to which Trump promised Americans a very different approach to exercising presidential power.....
The same month, at a primary debate, Trump vowed, “I would build consensus with Congress, and Congress would agree with me. ... I don’t like the idea of using executive orders like our president. It is a disaster what [Obama’s] doing. I would build consensus, but consensus means you have to work hard. You have to cajole. You have to get them into the Oval Office and get them all together, and you have to make deals.”
Perhaps the best line of them all was delivered in January 2016, when Trump told CNN his thoughts on the “executive-order concept.” The future president explained, “You know, it’s supposed to be negotiated. You’re supposed to cajole, get people in a room, you have Republicans, Democrats, you’re supposed to get together and pass a law. [Obama] doesn’t want to do that because it’s too much work. So he doesn’t want to work too hard. He wants to go back and play golf.”
Eight years later, Trump isn’t just signing executive orders on a nearly daily basis, he’s publicly bragging about the fact that he’s signing more orders than any of his presidential predecessors.
The Republican has not yet explained when or why he changed his mind about the “executive-order concept,” but I’m eager to hear him elaborate on the subject.
The New York Times’ Carlos Lozada, who took on the unenviable task of reading each of the president’s directives, explained in his latest column:
The executive order is Trump’s preferred governing tool. Even with Republican congressional majorities, he favors the flourish of the order over the hassle of lawmaking. Why bother assembling legislative coalitions when you can just write, “By the authority vested in me as president by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered” and then tack on whatever you like?
To be sure, each of the orders deserves to be considered on the individual merits, but stepping back, it’s also worth appreciating the degree to which Trump promised Americans a very different approach to exercising presidential power.....
The same month, at a primary debate, Trump vowed, “I would build consensus with Congress, and Congress would agree with me. ... I don’t like the idea of using executive orders like our president. It is a disaster what [Obama’s] doing. I would build consensus, but consensus means you have to work hard. You have to cajole. You have to get them into the Oval Office and get them all together, and you have to make deals.”
Perhaps the best line of them all was delivered in January 2016, when Trump told CNN his thoughts on the “executive-order concept.” The future president explained, “You know, it’s supposed to be negotiated. You’re supposed to cajole, get people in a room, you have Republicans, Democrats, you’re supposed to get together and pass a law. [Obama] doesn’t want to do that because it’s too much work. So he doesn’t want to work too hard. He wants to go back and play golf.”
Eight years later, Trump isn’t just signing executive orders on a nearly daily basis, he’s publicly bragging about the fact that he’s signing more orders than any of his presidential predecessors.
The Republican has not yet explained when or why he changed his mind about the “executive-order concept,” but I’m eager to hear him elaborate on the subject.
Cha
(309,270 posts)9. Fucking Fascist ASSHOLE.
Initech
(104,400 posts)7. Of course they are. We don't know who's writing these or what's in them.
