Trump's Executive Orders Have Some Power, but They Can Definitely Be Overturned

Every president comes into office with plans to sign dozens of executive orders. These executive orders are a way for a president to govern without working through Congress, but they come with real, tangible limits as a result.

Donald Trump is planning to sign more executive orders than most, including one that may put a reprieve on the banning of TikTok. Given that executive order, as well as others, including one that essentially says trans people do not exist, many want to know if Donald Trump's executive orders can be overturned. Here's what we know.

Executive orders are often designed to allow the president to direct the federal government in how it should govern. Some are innocuous, like giving federal employees a new holiday, while others can be quite substantial, like Barack Obama's order to prevent the deportation of the children of illegal immigrants.

Although they can be a useful tool, these kinds of orders are often designed more as political symbols.

That is certainly the case for President Trump's expected order declaring that the United States has only two genders. Just because he writes that on a piece of paper does not make it so, but it signals to his supporters what his stance is on that particular issue.

Executive orders also aren't all-powerful, and they can be overturned both by Congress and by the court system, and there is precedent for both happening in previous administrations.

The reason many are wondering whether an executive order could overrule the Supreme Court is because they want to better understand whether Trump can unilaterally keep TikTok from being banned. The short answer is no. Under our current constitutional system, the Supreme Court is the final arbiter on the law, and they voted 9-0 to keep the TikTok ban in effect, even though Trump would rather see it overturned.

Trump has signaled, though, that he will use an executive order to keep the ban from going into effect, even though the Supreme Court has already ruled that the law is legal. The reason Trump is allowed to offer this reprieve is becase the law stipulates that the ban can be delayed by no more than 90 days if a deal is on the way toward implementation.

However. the law also states that this can only happen “if the President certifies to Congress that ... a path to executing a qualified divestiture has been identified” and if there is “evidence of significant progress toward executing such qualified divestiture has been produced.”

There is, to date, no evidence that TikTok is going to get sold. Even so, Congress may certify that Trump can delay the ban because he is a Republican.

Still, that executive order would not save the app. The app can only be permanently saved, it would seem, if an American buyer for it is actually found, or if Congress decides to repeal the ban before it can go into effect.