On April 9, President Donald Trump signed what may be his most absurd executive order to date. In a move that many legal experts are calling dangerous and unconstitutional, Trump ordered federal agencies to start repealing regulations he claims are “unlawful.”
The order, titled “Directing the Repeal of Unlawful Regulations,” instructs agencies to scrap rules that were based on older Supreme Court rulings — decisions Trump now says are “superseded.” The logic? If the Court changed its mind later, any rule tied to its earlier opinion should be wiped off the books.
This isn’t just sloppy legal thinking — it’s a power grab.
Under the Constitution, the president doesn’t get to decide what’s lawful. That job belongs to the courts. “Trump is pretending he has the power to issue a king-like proclamation,” the article explains. But he’s not a judge. He’s not a king. And he definitely doesn’t get to erase laws just because he doesn’t like them.
Here’s the real problem: federal regulations are tied to laws passed by Congress. Agencies can create rules to enforce those laws, but only if Congress gives them that authority. And when it comes to changing or killing off those rules, there’s a process — one that has existed since 1946.
That process is spelled out in the Administrative Procedure Act. It’s not quick or easy. It requires agencies to give the public a chance to weigh in. And any big change can be challenged in court.
So what is Trump doing instead? He’s trying to dodge the rules by citing a loophole meant for emergencies — something called the “good cause” exception. That’s supposed to be used when lives are on the line, like during a national health crisis.
But Trump’s order stretches that logic beyond recognition. He claims that “retaining and enforcing facially unlawful regulations is clearly contrary to the public interest.” In other words, he says they’re illegal — so he doesn’t need to follow the law to get rid of them. That kind of circular reasoning guts the whole system Congress built.
Let’s be clear: this order does not promise to replace scrapped regulations with better ones. It doesn’t guarantee public input. It doesn’t even define what counts as “unlawful.” It just gives federal agencies a vague list of rules to target — and a green light to start hacking away.
And all of this is happening without a single vote from Congress.
Yes, presidents can issue executive orders. But they can’t use them to cancel laws passed by Congress. The Supreme Court has made that very clear.
“Presidents are not kings. They do not act by edict,” the article says. Yet this executive order reads like a royal decree. It hands Trump sweeping new powers he simply doesn’t have — and dares the courts to stop him.
That’s exactly what’s going to happen next. Lawsuits will follow. Some of Trump’s moves will be overturned. But others may slip through. And if that happens, real protections — for workers, consumers, and the environment — could vanish.
This isn’t just more Trump chaos. It’s a test of whether our institutions can hold. And if Congress lets this go, it’s not just a rubber stamp. It’s surrender.
