Trump is in office and DOGE is taking a bite out of government spending, so advocates for smaller government can all relax now, right? Wrong! Virtually every reform Trump has enacted in the first 30 days has been done by executive order, which means that it can be undone by a future President without congressional action.
Need proof? In his first 100 days in office, Biden revoked 42 executive orders from Trump’s first term. The orders revoked included: Executive Order 13771, that required agencies to repeal two regulations for each new regulation issued, and executive orders relating to immigration and environmental regulation. Need further proof? Trump revoked 91 of Biden’s executive orders in his first 30 days in office.
Trump has a majority of Republicans in the Senate and the house, so won’t he be able to pass the needed reforms that way? If that were the case, then why aren’t the reforms already on the books? After all, in Trump’s first term, Republicans controlled the House with a 241 to 194 majority and the Senate with a 52 to 48 vote majority. If the votes were there, we’d have the needed reforms. Today’s congressional makeup is similar, though even slimmer in the House, 218 to 215 for Republicans and 53 to 47 for Republicans in the Senate. The reforms necessary, like term limits, fiscal restraints, and limits on federal power are often counter to congressional interests. For example, President Trump has called for term limits on Congress, but that would require 66 Senators and 290 Representatives to vote for ending their lucrative and powerful careers.
By now, it should be clear that reform accomplished by executive order is fleeting and ephemeral. Waiting for congressional action to restrain government is like stepping in front of a speeding train and counting on a fictional superhero to sweep you to safety. Trump’s executive orders are like a tourniquet, they can stop bleeding, but the patient, the United States of America, needs sustained care to return to health. Tennessean Dr. George Grant sees Trump’s election, “…as it’s not a cure for anything. It’s not a solution for anything. It’s a tourniquet. It stops the bleeding, and if we can stop the bleeding, then we start to go to work on solutions. “
Convention of States Action has the needed solutions. Go to conventionofstates.com to learn more, sign the petition, and find out how you can join your state’s team of citizens just like you as we restore self-governance to our republic.
