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10 Regul. Rev. Depth 1 (2021)

handle is hein.journals/rgyrvidh10 and id is 1 raw text is: LESSONS IN PRESIDENTIAL AUTHORITY Peter M. Shanet President Joseph R. Biden has launched his Administration with a pace of formal executive initiative not seen since the New Deal.1 Pages and pages of public executive actions-taking the various forms of executive orders, proclamations, or presidential memoranda-have signaled profound changes in policy from his predecessor.2 Congressional Republicans lost no time in alleging an inconsistency between President Biden's exhortations to unity and his running start with executive action in so many areas.3 But Democrats have pointed to widespread public support for President Biden's commitments support apparently unifying voters well beyond the Democratic base.4 The body of presidential initiatives emerging so quickly from the Biden White House is instructive, however, about more than just the ambitions of one particular President. These executive initiatives also provide important clues as to both the reach and limitations of presidential power. Such lessons emerge yet more pointedly when President Biden's opening flurry of actions is viewed in tandem with the closing burst from President Donald J. Trump. Looking at President Biden's first week against the backdrop of President Trump's last actually points to six important lessons about the powers and frustrations of the contemporary presidency. 1. The immediate public impacts of executive action are mostly symbolic. In the great majority of cases, executive orders, proclamations, and presidential memoranda have no direct, immediate consequences for the t Jacob E. Davis and Jacob E. Davis II Char in Law at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. 1 Peter Baker, Copying Roosevelt, Biden Wanted a Fast Start. Now Comes the Hard Part., N.Y. TIMEs, Jan. 30, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/30/us/politics/biden- administration-early-goals .html. 2 Id. 3 Greg Sargent, Fake GOP Rage Over Biden's 'Unity' Speech is a Sucker's Game, WASH. POST, Jan. 21, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/01/21/gop- response-biden-speech-unity. 4 See Eli Yokley, Biden's Initial Approval Rating is Higher than Trump's Ever Was, MORNING CONSULT (Jan. 25, 2021, 3:55 PM), https://morningconsult.com/2021/01/25/ morning-consult-political-intelligence-biden-job-approval-polling.

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