The term “executive order” has been brought up frequently ever since Donald Trump came into office in January 2025. Since January, Trump has signed 76 executive orders. 76 executive orders in three months. This has already surpassed the amount he made during his whole first year in office, 55 executive orders. Many of the orders that Trump has passed have grounds to be overturned, and we will discuss this further in this article.

What exactly are the powers and limits of an executive order?

An executive order is not the law but it can change how a law is enforced by federal agencies, set rules for government operations, shift spending around a law, declare national emergencies, and issue pardons for federal crimes. The current President can also revoke any previous executive orders by themself or a former president without approval from Congress.

This gives a lot of power to the executive branch but it also comes with many limits.

An executive order cannot create new laws, change the Constitution, take away rights protected by the Constitution, force states to do something against their laws, or override Supreme Court rulings.

To keep the system of checks and balances the process of judicial review comes into play, where the Supreme Court examines actions taken by both the legislative and executive branches to determine whether or not they are unconstitutional or unlawful. They must be challenged in court by those directly affected by the action, such as an individual, group, organization, business, or state.

Trump has utilized his power to revoke a long list of orders made by former President Joe Biden. This list includes Executive Order 13988, which prevented discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, and Executive Order 13985, which attempted to advance racial equity, as well as many executive orders that aimed to combat our environmental crisis and a tremendous amount more. This power to revoke previous executive orders is a big one, and it has erased a lot of good things done by the Biden administration. While Trump can do this freely to as many previous executive orders as he likes, if any revocation violates laws and rights, or causes harm, courts and Congress can step in to challenge or override it. Some of the executive orders Trump has made have crossed those lines, which is why they have been blocked.

It’s important to take a look at some of the executive orders Trump has signed and analyze their validity. One of the most provoking ones is Executive Order 14160, in which he aims to change how the 14th Amendment has been interpreted and end birthright citizenship. While shocking, this executive order will likely be overturned. It has already faced multiple lawsuits across the country and has been issued a temporary restraining order preventing enforcement by a federal district judge in Washington. Temporary restraining orders are issued to block enforcement while certain executive orders are awaiting review.

Due to Trump's increasing amount of unconstitutional and unlawful acts, many claim we’re under a constitutional crisis, in which there is a serious conflict with the United States’ system of checks and balances. Based on comments made by both Trump and his Vice President, J.D. Vance, it seems that actions by the Supreme Court to overturn executive orders would not be taken well.

In a post on X, J.D. Vance wrote, “Judges aren't allowed to control the executive's legitimate power.” But his opinion comes as no surprise, as his view was expressed back in 2021, when he went on a podcast stating that if re-elected, Trump should “fire every single mid-level bureaucrat, [and] every civil servant in the administrative state … and when the courts stop you, stand before the country like Andrew Jackson did and say: ‘The chief justice has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it.’”

He is referring to the Supreme Court Decision that the state of Georgia had no authority over Native American lands, in Worcester v. Georgia (1832). President Andrew Jackson refused to enforce the Supreme Court’s ruling and faced no repercussions. This led to the infamous forced migration of Native Americans through the deadly Trail of Tears.

In an interview for Politico Magazine, when asked if he still held this view, he responded, “Yup.”

He also brought up that the “real” constitutional crisis would be the Supreme Court trying to tell the President they lack the authority to control the staff of the government, and not how the President would respond to this occurring.

Supreme Court Justice Chief John Roberts, who is considered a conservative—and somewhat controversial for his mixed views on abortion, and past rulings on certain cases—took note of the attack on the responsibility of the Supreme Court in his Year End Report.

As Roberts stated, “Every Administration suffers defeats in the court system—sometimes in cases with major ramifications for executive or legislative power or other consequential topics. Nevertheless, for the past several decades, the decisions of the courts, popular or not, have been followed, and the Nation has avoided the standoffs that plagued the 1950s and 1960s. Within the past few years, however, elected officials from across the political spectrum have raised the specter of open disregard for federal court rulings. These dangerous suggestions, however sporadic, must be soundly rejected.”

Because of how the system is set up, tensions between the executive branch and judicial branch are common, and Trump’s outright disrespect to the Supreme Court system is something to be watchful of. In the past, former President Andrew Jackson faced no repercussions for ignoring the Supreme Court’s decision, due to the relationship between the executive and judicial branch in which the Supreme Court relies on the President to enforce their rulings.

If Trump were to refuse the decisions of the Supreme Court, we would truly be in a constitutional crisis. And based on how he’s reacting to his orders being blocked, it seems more than likely a possibility.