© 2025 MICHIGAN PUBLIC
91.7 Ann Arbor/Detroit 104.1 Grand Rapids 91.3 Port Huron 89.7 Lansing 91.1 Flint
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Executive action vs. executive order: What to know as Trump takes office

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump looks on during Turning Point USA's AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center on Dec. 22, 2024, in Phoenix, Ariz.
Rebecca Noble
/
Getty Images
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump looks on during Turning Point USA's AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center on Dec. 22, 2024, in Phoenix, Ariz.

Ahead of his swearing in as 47th president on Monday, incoming White House officials held phone calls to outline some of the executive orders President-elect Donald Trump plans to take on his first day in office.

Earlier this month, Trump told Republican senators that he was preparing more than 100 executive orders — targeting border security, energy development, workforce rules and more — to roll out starting on day one of his presidency.

It's not unusual for presidents to issue a flurry of executive actions within hours of their inauguration.

Biden signed 15 on his first day in 2021. Trump signed a record 14 executive orders and presidential memoranda during his first week in office in 2017.

And he's made a slew of "Day 1" promises to voters this time around, from launching the largest deportation in history to signing pardons for Jan. 6 rioters.

But because of the way the government is set up (remember learning about checks and balances?), there's only so much Trump can do on his own.

Here are the main ways he could flex his executive power, as defined by the Library of Congress:

Executive orders are directed towards — and concerning — actions by government officials and agencies. They have the force of law if the topic is "founded on the authority of the president derived from the Constitution or statue," and are required to be published in the Federal Register (the official journal of the federal government).

Executive memoranda are like executive orders, but are not required to cite the president's legal authority or be printed in the Federal Register.

Proclamations typically concern the activities of private individuals and do not have the force of law. They are considered largely ceremonial these days.

Read more about "executive actions" here.

Copyright 2025 NPR

Rachel Treisman (she/her) is a writer and editor for the Morning Edition live blog, which she helped launch in early 2021.