Jeh Johnson Suggests Banning Day One Executive Orders

For as long as I can remember, the busiest day on the calendar for a new president in terms of executive orders is the first day in office.

Former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, however, believes that is a tradition that should be ended.

Day One Promises

Donald Trump has made several promises about executive orders he will sign on his first day in office to jump-start his administration, and that is going to start with mass deportations and an immigration overhaul.

Trump has also planned to remove restrictions on domestic oil and gas production by allowing oil companies more opportunities to drill domestically, hoping to make America energy independent again.

Trump has vowed to look at J6 cases immediately and offer pardons to those he believes should not be prosecuted. He also stated he would fire Special Counsel Jack Smith, but it appears that Smith is winding down the cases and will be gone before Trump gets sworn in.

Trump has also stated that the war between Russia and Ukraine will be a top priority, even suggesting that he would work back channels as president-elect, possibly ending the war before he even takes office.

Can He Do It

I am going to work backward here and address the war first. I firmly believe that Putin will want to work with Trump to have this war over as soon as possible. Trump is not Biden, and Putin is well aware of that, so don’t be surprised to see that war over within the first six months of Trump’s presidency.

I am already on record saying I think Trump even bringing up pardons for the J6 defendants was a mistake. Ideally, he would have kept his mouth shut, then issued the pardons he wanted on the way out the door in 2029 when it could not hurt the GOP and the conservative movement.

I am all for opening up domestic energy prices because it will have an immediate impact on inflation and high prices. When transportation is cheaper, everything else is cheaper.

For immigration, I believe Trump will make some big moves, but many of these moves are going to be challenged. I would suspect that Trump’s incoming legal advisers are already working on this. In terms of mass deportation, realistically, with the numbers that Trump is talking, it would take not only his term, but also part of the next term to make this happen.

Ending Executive Orders

Johnson served during the Obama administration, but he has been quite critical of Joe Biden, so he appears to be a reasonable man. However, I have to disagree with him on what seems to be just a wild idea.

Johnson, on day one EOs, stated, “So, first of all, somebody should pass a law banning executive orders on day one. Because the reality is executive orders drafted by transition teams without the input of the affected agency before the cabinet secretaries are even confirmed are not great ideas.”

I disagree with this because although the cabinet will not have been confirmed at this point, Trump knows the agenda, as do his legal advisers and nominees, so they are surely developing a plan. Therefore, I have zero issues with the EOs on day one.

One thing I did agree with Johnson, however, is the undertaking of this mass deportation, as this is going to be a long-term project that is likely to have some carryover if a Republican wins in 2028. As Johnson noted, this is like rounding up the entire city of New York and sending them back over the border. It’s not happening in a day, month, or year, so don’t be disappointed if this is something that is still ongoing during the next election. From my perspective, as long as we see a steady deportation flow, I will be satisfied, regardless of how long it takes to complete.