Executive Orders
159 Articles

Nondelegation and Major Questions Doctrines Can Constrain Power Grabs by Presidents of Both Parties
Enforcing the nondelegation and major questions doctrines can help curb the danger posed by sweeping authority concentrated in a president of either party.

Collection: Just Security’s Coverage of Trump Administration Executive Actions
Coverage of key developments, including in concise “What Just Happened” expert explainers, legal and policy analysis, and more. Check back frequently for updates.

Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
A public resource tracking all the legal challenges to the Trump administration's executive orders and actions.

The Legal Defects in the Trump Administration’s Attempts to Deregulate Without Notice and Comment
The Trump administration's efforts to circumvent the APA's notice-and-comment requirements risk setting a damaging precedent.

Relocating Nationwide Injunctions
Consolidating cases allows a clear, expedited path to Supreme Court review, helping quickly address matters involving executive orders.

Unequal Before the Law: How Trump’s Death Penalty Order Codifies Dangerous Speech
Tying the harshest punishment the state can impose to the identity of the accused is dangerous speech that can increase the risk of intergroup violence.

Too Big to Be Lawful: A Federal Court Halts Mass Layoffs Across the Civil Service
A recent court decision has made clear that reorganizing the federal government can't proceed through backdoor executive planning.

How Trump’s Law Firm Settlements Circumvent Congress and Violate Federal Spending Laws
The Trump administration has operated outside the appropriations process and congressional oversight through its law firm settlements.

Another Reason Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order is Unlawful
"Without question, Congress understood that the birthright citizenship statute extended to the two groups that President Trump has targeted"

The Just Security Podcast: Keeping Track of the Big Picture–Challenges to Press Freedom and Beyond
A discussion with Rebecca Hamilton about the use of State power and how to identify linkages between individual developments and broader trends in press freedom and beyond.

The Trump Administration’s Use of State Power: Keeping Track of the Big Picture
Tracking the use of State power requires systematically identifying linkages between individual developments and broader trends. This graphic offers one method.

The New “National Defense Area” at the Southern Border: What You Need to Know
NSPM-4 creates a military area that is twice the size of Washington, D.C. and expands the military’s role in stopping cross-border migration.