For the complete schedule with speakers of this daylong program, click here.
The subject of this Academic Symposium will be congressional dysfunction and executive lawmaking during President Obama’s Administration. In the 2014 State of the Union address, President Obama drew much criticism when he indicated he would act without Congress, if necessary, in certain areas where Congress had stalled during his Presidency. Immediately, critics accused President Obama of tyranny, claiming that the announcement fit a pattern of President Obama overstepping executive authority and acting illegally through the misuse of sole executive powers to govern. The accusation is that President Obama has simply sidestepped Congress whenever Congress has refused to act according to his priorities and policies by issuing his own executive orders or through other means.
This program will address important questions on whether President Obama has overused or abused executive powers and violated principles of separation of powers, federalism, or fundamental rights. Executive orders will be one focal point of panel discussion. There is a great deal of misinformation or exaggeration about President Obama’s alleged reliance on executive orders. Executive orders are not only common, but generally legal.
Contrary to public perception, President Obama has issued fewer executive orders – only 168 – than other contemporary presidents, whether Republican or Democrat. All presidents have relied on executive orders as a tool to give guidance to administrative agencies on the faithful execution of laws or to exercise discretion within existing law to affect policy. Executive orders provoke conflict over policy, increase partisanship, and raise separation of powers or federalism issues, but in reality, presidents have substantial authority to issue such orders. The infrequency with which President Obama has issued executive orders only tells part of the story, however. There is also the issue of the nature and scope of the executive orders, which may at least in part explain why scholars have also raised concern over the legality of President Obama’s actions. Not all executive orders are created equal. Some are quite forceful, making dramatic changes to policy. Others hit buttons or affect principles considered sacred such as issues of federalism and fundamental rights. In addition, President Obama has issued presidential memoranda and proclamations and has engaged in rulemaking (regulatory) authority to govern in ways that merit scrutiny. These executive actions will also be discussed by panelists.
Commentators on the Obama presidency, both positive and negative, have identified areas where President Obama has exercised the most executive might as including immigration issues, LGBT rights, environmental matters, national security and state secrecy, gun control, scientific research pertaining to stem cells, and health care issues. This program aims to bring scholars writing in these various areas of law and across disciplines to inform the conversation about the virtues and vices of sole executive power in general and more specifically to study President Obama’s record from the perspective of legality, policy, and rights.