What is an executive order?

As we’ve been reporting, Trump is expected to sign as many as 100 executive orders on his first day in office. But what are they exactly?

Essentially, executive orders are signed statements about how the president wants the federal government to be managed. They can be instructions to federal agencies or requests for reports. Many orders can be unobjectionable, but they can also lay out major policies.

For example, Biden signed an order to create a structure for establishing regulations on artificial intelligence. But executive orders also are used by presidents to pursue agendas they can’t get through Congress.

New presidents can — and often do — issue orders to cancel the orders of their predecessors.

The orders do not require congressional approval and can’t be directly overturned by lawmakers. Still, Congress could block an order from being fulfilled by removing funding or creating other hurdles.

During his first term, Trump signed 220 executive orders. Biden signed 160 as of December 20.