At an event in Knoxville, Iowa, which is best-known for being the home of the annual Knoxville Nationals winged sprint car automobile race, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden criticized other Democratic presidential candidates and falsely insinuated that they want to abuse the executive power authority of the presidency:
I do share a legitimate concern regarding abuse of executive order and presidential proclamation powers, as the President’s executive order and proclamation authority should be limited to actions designed to execute the laws of the United States in a manner consistent with the U.S. Constitution and Acts of Congress. However, it’s important to note that a very large portion of Trump’s actions in office can be repealed or effectively repealed by simply using the executive authority of the presidency to do so. There are some of Trump’s actions in office that can’t be unilaterally reversed by a future president immediately after being sworn into office, such as, but not limited to, Trump’s federal judicial appointments (which are lifetime appointments) and Acts of Congress that Trump signed into the law (such as the Trump tax cut bill that did nothing more than line the pockets of those who are wealthy). However, most of what Trump has actually accomplished in office has been unilateral actions of the President that can be overturned quickly by a future President, if he/she wanted to.
If Biden thinks that executive orders are “menus to abuse the power of the presidency”, would that mean that Biden wouldn’t repeal the travel ban against individuals from several countries, most of which are predominantly-Muslim? Remember, that’s Executive Order 13780, enacted by Donald Trump and amended by two presidential proclamations by Trump, and Biden has called for overturning the ban as recently as two months ago.
I have yet to hear a single Democratic presidential candidate advocate for anything that would amount to an abuse of presidential power. Elizabeth Warren hasn’t promised to implement all of her plans right after being sworn into office by executive fiat, because she knows that would be legally and morally wrong. I will vote for whoever wins the Democratic nomination in the general election, however, Joe Biden is clearly trying to divide Democrats against themselves in this primary campaign.