Whether one is a Trump supporter or not, we can all safely conclude that the last nearly 90 days since President Trump was inaugurated have been gripping and sometimes chaotic. Most people do not know what to expect next, and just as one news story is gathering steam, another rises.
More than any recent president in memory, Trump has used his resounding victory––in all seven battleground states––to interpret that he can pass executive orders that reflect his priorities, and, therefore, the will of the American people.
Trump's assumption is correct to a large extent. But we have seen that signing executive orders in front of television cameras is one thing, but successfully implementing those policies is another.
The most glaring example of this truth occurred after President Trump signed his Liberation Day tariff policy on April 2 in the Rose Garden.
Other nations have exploited America by imposing tariff and non-tariff barriers that make American products uncompetitive in those markets. Partly because of corporate decisions to relocate manufacturing to far-flung nations, like China, American manufacturing has suffered, and millions of jobs have been lost. The outsourcing decisions decimated small industrial towns that had a proud legacy of manufacturing, and these developments occurred with Congress and multiple presidential administrations either idly watching or actively encouraging the transformation. It is in America's national interest to rebuild supply chains within the country so that we are not beholden to the whims and fancies of foreign powers.
The devil is always in the details, and when Trump turned his presentation over to a hastily prepared chart showing the tariffs for each country, panic began to set in. Trump's goal was to force countries to come to a deal with him. What transpired over the next few days was chaos.
Asian markets opened shortly thereafter and took a tumble. For two days, Wall Street was in turmoil. The Trump team scrambled to change policy on the fly with different administration voices, from JD Vance to Peter Navarro to Elon Musk to Howard Lutnick to Scott Bessent, saying different things.
Trump paused tariffs on all countries for 90 days, and the markets reacted well. However, Trump increased tariffs on China to 145%. For the first time in decades, the stock markets, bond markets, and the dollar all fell. Panicking again, the Trump team announced on Friday that it would exempt nearly $100 billion of $439 billion of Chinese imports—mainly electronic items—from tariffs.
But, on Sunday, it appeared that these exemptions were only temporary. Trump said on Truth Social: "...taking a look at Semiconductors and the whole electronic supply chain in the upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations. Nobody is getting ‘off the hook’ for the unfair Trade Balances, and Non Monetary Tariff Barriers, that other Countries have used against us, especially not China which, by far, treats us the worst!” Other administration officials echoed this view on the Sunday talk shows. China countered by placing restrictions on its rare earth exports.
If there is one thing markets hate, it is uncertainty. Last week, we explained how bond markets behaved. Trump's decisions shook investor confidence in America and increased borrowing costs. As we go to press Monday morning, no one knows what to expect from the markets.
Executive orders are not new. Obama abused them and changed government policy for civilian agencies forever. His Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, allowing minor immigrant children to have temporary legal status in the United States, was an example of how he single-handedly changed US policy without consulting Congress. His H4 Employment Authorization Document (H4-EAD) allowed millions of spouses of highly skilled visa holders to pursue careers without any wage or labor condition oversight whatsoever.
President Trump also thought that he could single-handedly remake the American landscape. However, the resistance to anything Trump does goes into overdrive, with every action that he has taken challenged by a lawsuit or two in federal courts. These judges have been happy to grant nationwide injunctions, leaving the United States Supreme Court to rule narrowly in a few cases to give President Trump the victory he sought. But uncertainty persists for a host of his orders.
We have a few ideas for fixing our system of governance - not just for President Trump but for every future president. Suppose there was a new law that said that for every EO to remain in place, Congress, as true representatives of the people, should approve it in both chambers with a simple majority vote. And another law that states that EOs are not reviewable by federal courts until after Congress acts, and even then, judges could only rule on the constitutionality of the EO. Finally, judges cannot issue nationwide injunctions. [The House has already passed legislation regarding the last point].
So, how much time would Congress have to vote on a presidential EO? We suggest 180 days. If Congress refuses to take up the matter, the EO will stay permanent until the next president overturns it. The 180-day period will force Congress to do something to serve the voters who sent it to Washington. Currently, Congress does nothing other than give floor speeches that are carried on C-SPAN 3.
Many constitutional scholars would disagree with our proposal. They might argue that executive order authority is vested in the president's Article II powers and cannot be second-guessed by Congress. However, in our system of government, even co-equal branches are designed to work together. Nearly 1,200 presidential appointees require the Senate's advice and consent. Clearly, executive orders are far more consequential to America than the Senate confirmation vote of an ambassador to some far-flung country.
If Congress voted down Trump's tariffs—many Republicans have expressed concerns about the White House's haphazard ways since Liberation Day—world markets would be more assured. All of President Trump's cabinet nominees—even the more controversial ones—won the Senate's blessing, so it would be wrong to assume that Congress would always be a spoiler.
Had our proposal been in place, both DACA and the H4-EAD programs would never be law today. President Obama announced the DACA program on June 15, 2012. The GOP had a 242-193 lead in the House, and with GOP opposition to the proposal, DACA would never have made it to the Senate. The Democrats had a one-vote majority in the Senate.
The GOP and Democrat margins in 2015 in both the House and Senate were identical to 2012. The H4-EAD, finalized on February 25, 2015, also would have gone down to defeat in Congress.
TIPP Picks
Selected articles from tippinsights.com and more
Trump 2.0
1. Trump Takes Aim At The Heart Of The Climate Industrial Complex—Tyler O'Neil, The Daily Signal
2. ‘Break-a-Leg’ (that Old Mafia Warning) – Trump Has Threatened Iran Over An Ultimatum That Likely Cannot Be Met—Alastair Crooke, Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity
3. Donald Trump Is Making The Case For BRICS—Larry C. Johnson, Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity
4. Trump DHS To Fine Illegal Aliens Ordered Deported $998 For Each Day Overstayed—Fred Lucas, The Daily Signal
5. Trump Order Would Force The ACLU To Put Its Money Where Its Mouth Is On Lawfare—Tyler O'Neil, The Daily Signal
6. Trump’s Tariffs Are Only The Start. Congress Must Now Cut Taxes and Regulations.—Kevin Roberts & Richard Stern, The Daily Signal
7. Pentagon Eliminates Woke Violations Of Trump’s Executive Orders—Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell, The Daily Signal
8. ‘On Budget, On Time’: Sean Duffy Says This Is How Trump Will Make Infrastructure Projects More Accountable—Mariane Angela, DCNF
9. AIPAC Leader Boasts Of Special ‘Access’ To Top Trump Natsec Officials In Leaked Audio—Max Blumenthal, Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity
10. Who Benefits Most From Trump Tax Cuts? You Might Be Surprised—Fred Lucas, The Daily Signal
11. Steve Moore Says China Tariff War Will Show US ‘Who Our Allies Really Are’—Hailey Gomez, DCNF
12. Washington’s Leading Tax Cut Advocates Cheer Trump’s Tariffs Pause—George Caldwell, The Daily Signal
World Affairs
13. Dream On, Europe: All Hat, No Cattle In Ukraine—Editorial Board, TIPP Insights
14. Here’s Why The Great Decoupling From China Is Long Overdue—Jarrett Stepman, The Daily Signal
15. Tom Cotton’s New Book Addresses China’s Global Threat You Can’t Talk About—Horace Cooper, The Daily Signal
16. China Floats Possibility Of Killing More Americans In Response To Tariffs—Robert McGreevy, DCNF
17. Rod Dreher: Communist Dissidents Have A Message For The West—Bradley Devlin, The Daily Signal
18. Romania Turns To Small Modular Reactors With US To Achieve Energy Independence—Anthony B. Kim & Maria Preda, The Daily Signal
Economy
19. The Bond Market Just Made Noise — This Is The Simple Version—Editorial Board, TIPP Insights
20. California’s Massive Waste And Fraud Is Everyone’s Business—Editorial Board, Issues & Insights
21. Tariffs, Capital Heterogeneity, And The Real Costs Of Intervention: The Aluminum Example—Richard Martin, Mises Wire
22. A Review Of Some GDP Problems—Joshua Mawhorter, Mises Wire
23. Treasury Report Exposes How Fentanyl Traffickers Exploit Financial System—George Caldwell, The Daily Signal
24. Is Foreign Investment Bad For Our Economy?—William L. Anderson, Mises
Politics
25. Ethics Complaint Claims Booker Improperly Linked 25-Hour Talkathon With Fundraising—Fred Lucas, The Daily Signal
26. Here’s Why One Colorado Democrat Voted Against The Bill Treating Transgender Wrongthink Like Child Abuse—Tyler O'Neil, The Daily Signal
27. House OKs SAVE Act Election Integrity Measure—Jacob Adams, The Daily Signal
28. Congress: Defend Americans’ Voices At The Ballot Box And Pass The SAVE Act—Ryan Walker, The Daily Signal
29. Over Half Of All Ignored ICE Detainers On Criminal Illegal Migrants Were In Just One State—Jason Hopkins, DCNF
30. Democrat Senator Asked To Cough Up Evidence Trump Committed ‘Insider Trading’ – He Admits There Are No Receipts Yet—Harold Hutchison, DCNF
31. Can States Nix Medicaid Dollars For Abortion Clinics? Supreme Court Justices Appear Divided—Sarah Parshall Perry & Brynn Bennett, The Daily Signal
32. Texas AG Paxton Announces 2026 GOP Primary Challenge Against Sen. Cornyn—Jacob Adams, The Daily Signal
33. Why Ranked Choice Voting Was Bad for Virginia—And For Any State—Joe Thomas, The Daily Signal
34. Karoline Leavitt Says Americans Would Be ‘Quite Interested’ To Hear Biden’s Hidden Robert Hur Interview—Robert McGreevy, DCNF
General Affairs
35. With Loss Of Power In Congress, The Left Turns To Theatrics—Victor Davis Hanson, The Daily Signal
36. ‘Hands Off’ Irony Is Lost On The Left—Editorial Board, Issues & Insights
37. Tariffs And The Constitution—Andrew P. Napolitano, Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity
38. DOGE Exposed Our Immigration Asylum Disaster. That Was The Tip Of The Iceberg—Lora Ries, The Daily Signal
39. Virginia Democrats’ Increasing Political Obstructionism—Joe Thomas, The Daily Signal
40. Reclaiming Higher Ed From The Left: College Presidents Highlight 4 Approaches—Moira Gleason, The Daily Signal
41. The Left Is Out For Blood — Literally—Natalie Sandoval, DCNF
42. Chuck Todd Says Legacy Media Downplayed Biden’s Issues Due To ‘Fear’ Of Perception Of ‘Helping Trump’—Jason Cohen, DCNF
43. White House Meme Machine And Strategy Behind It—Virginia Allen & Elise McCue, The Daily Signal
44. Leftist Media Boss Pulls Head Out Of The Sand Just Long Enough To Admit The Truth—Mary Rooke, DCNF
45. Why We Need The Rule Of Law—Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr., Mises Wire
46. How Ron DeSantis Turned Florida Red—And Why It Will Remain That Way—Faith Behrens, The Daily Signal
47. Washington State Sheriff Rips Sanctuary Policies That ‘Shield Repeat Offenders’—Virginia Allen, The Daily Signal
48. The Virus Era: A Time Of Both Madness And Silliness—Jane L. Johnson, Mises Wire
49. Democratic Gov Deploys National Guard To Sanctuary City Over ‘Fentanyl Crisis And Juvenile Crime’—Audrey Streb, DCNF
50. Why Vance’s Viral Memes Resonate With Younger Voters—Janae Myers, The Daily Signal
51. Former Hunter Biden Business Partner Says President’s Son Leveraged Family Name—Jacob Adams, The Daily Signal
