Are Obama's new gun regulations Executive Orders, or Executive actions? I have seen it described as both in the media and before the media said it was a EO and it was a EA. The importance of which it is, is can not be under stated. Some info I pulled from uspolitics.about.com concerning the differences.
"Executive actions are any informal proposals or moves by the president. The term executive action itself is vague and can be used to describe almost anything the president calls on Congress or his administration to do.
But most executive actions carry no legal weight. Those that do actually set policy can be invalidated by the courts or undone by legislation passed by Congress.
The terms executive action and executive order are not interchangeable. Executive orders are legally binding and published in the Federal Register, though they also can be reversed by the courts and Congress.
A good way to think of executive actions is a wish list of policies the president would like to see enacted.
When Executive Actions Are Used Instead of Executive Orders
Presidents favor the use of nonbinding executive actions when the issue is controversial or sensitive. For example, Obama carefully weighed his use of executive actions on gun violence and decided against issuing legal mandates via executive orders, which would have gone against the legislative intent of Congress and risked enraging lawmakers of both parties."
Shortly after his second term began he signed 23 EA on guns, nothing more than toothless feel good action to appease the anti gun crowd, are we again going to see the same EA or a more binding EO?
"Executive actions are any informal proposals or moves by the president. The term executive action itself is vague and can be used to describe almost anything the president calls on Congress or his administration to do.
But most executive actions carry no legal weight. Those that do actually set policy can be invalidated by the courts or undone by legislation passed by Congress.
The terms executive action and executive order are not interchangeable. Executive orders are legally binding and published in the Federal Register, though they also can be reversed by the courts and Congress.
A good way to think of executive actions is a wish list of policies the president would like to see enacted.
When Executive Actions Are Used Instead of Executive Orders
Presidents favor the use of nonbinding executive actions when the issue is controversial or sensitive. For example, Obama carefully weighed his use of executive actions on gun violence and decided against issuing legal mandates via executive orders, which would have gone against the legislative intent of Congress and risked enraging lawmakers of both parties."
Shortly after his second term began he signed 23 EA on guns, nothing more than toothless feel good action to appease the anti gun crowd, are we again going to see the same EA or a more binding EO?
