What are executive orders – and will Donald Trump’s latest ones work?
Donald Trump signed more than 100 executive orders on his inauguration day.
It has become standard practice for new presidents to use them within hours of taking office – Joe Biden signed 17 on his first day.
They are arguably the president’s most powerful tool for enacting change – as they have the same force behind them as legislation – and bypass both Houses of Congress.
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Mr Trump’s inauguration day executive orders included declaring a national emergency at the US-Mexico border, withdrawing US birthrights from migrants’ children, and taking the US out of both the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organisation.
But they do have limits – and can be subject to legal challenges.
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Donald Trump’s executive orders
What are they – and how do they work?
Executive orders are official instructions from the president about how US federal agencies, such as government departments and the FBI, should use their resources.
They are enshrined in the second article of the constitution, which states: “The executive power shall be vested in a president of the United States of America.”
Effectively, they are a way for the president to dictate how the federal government should be run.
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They can take various forms – from laying out major policies and requesting official reports to giving federal employees days off for public holidays.
The president’s role as commander in chief means they can also be used to control what the military does.
Donald Trump signs an executive order on a hiring freeze on inauguration day. Pic: AP
How quickly do they take effect?
It depends on the subject matter – and the work required to achieve the president’s aims.
Executive orders that are relatively straight forward and face no opposition can be acted upon straight away.
For example, one of Mr Trump’s latest ones pardoned all of the 6 January rioters, declaring any still behind bars in federal prisons should be released immediately.
But others that are more abstract will take longer – and require further direction on how to achieve them.
One example from Monday was the order that all agencies should “address the cost-of-living crisis”.
Those that take longer than the four-year presidential term are often overridden if a new president is elected. Many of Mr Trump’s executive orders from his first presidency were focused on undoing the work of President Barack Obama, Mr Biden’s overturned many of Mr Trump’s – and so on.
Pic: AP
Can they be overturned?
Congress and the courts have the power to block executive orders – but this is not absolute.
For example, Congress can pass laws to override them but these can still be vetoed by the president.
Congress can also deny the required funding from being allocated.
However, Congressional opposition is less likely this time around, as the Republican Party has control of the House of Representatives, the Senate – and the White House.
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Executive orders are supposed to work within the confines of the law, which means they can also be subject to legal review.
State government officials, campaign groups, and other entities can challenge an executive order if they can prove the president is going beyond his legal powers – or the constitution.
For example, President Harry Truman was stopped from trying to seize steel mills by the Supreme Court during the Korean War after it was argued he lacked the authority to take private property without Congress’s permission.
Member of Trump staff carries his executive orders on inauguration day. Pic: Reuters
Will Trump’s latest orders face opposition?
Many of Mr Trump’s latest executive orders are highly controversial.
Although he is less likely to face political opposition due to Republican majorities in Congress, civil rights groups and Democratic attorney generals have already signalled they will launch legal proceedings.
For example, legal action was lodged within minutes of Mr Trump officially ordering the creation of his new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk on Monday.
Legal action is less likely to be successful when challenging the revocation of Joe Biden’s policies – as these were lawfully approved during his administration.
Opposition groups are more likely to win against the Trump administration’s use of new, untested legal arguments, according to Sky’s US partner network NBC News.
One example is the order rescinding birthrights for children whose parents are not permanent residents or US citizens.
Protesters in Washington DC on Monday. Pic: Reuters
Birthrights – the right of citizenship to anyone born on US soil – come from the 14th amendment of the constitution, which states they apply to anyone “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States.
Mr Trump’s executive order argues this means it does not apply to undocumented migrants – but legal experts have already indicated the language only refers to those exempt from US law – such as foreign diplomats.
Another example is Mr Trump’s proposed use of the Alien Enemies Act, which is part of the Alien and Sedition Acts 1798.
It gives the president powers to detain or deport foreign citizens during times of war – and was used during the Second World War.
However, Mr Trump’s order will likely struggle to hold up in court – as the US is currently not at war.
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A state of emergency has been declared in South Carolina as wildfires caused by dry and gusty conditions have forced people to evacuate some areas.
More than 175 fires covered 6.6 square miles in the state on Sunday as the National Weather Service warned of an increased risk of blazes in the region.
The number of fires was down to 163 by early Monday, the state’s forestry commission said.
South Carolina governor Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency on Sunday to support the wildfire response effort and a state-wide burning ban is in effect.
People in eight neighbourhoods were forced to evacuate as several fires raged in the state’s Horry County, officials said.
Soldiers used two Blackhawk helicopters to drop water 600 gallons at a time on the blazes, the South Carolina National Guard said on Sunday.
Meanwhile, firefighters made progress containing a fire in Carolina Forest, where people had been ordered to evacuate several neighbourhoods, according to Horry County Fire Rescue.
Footage showed some people running down the street as smoke filled the sky.
However, Horry County Fire Rescue announced by late Sunday that Carolina Forest evacuees could return home.
The Red Cross of South Carolina said approximately 135 Carolina Forest residents had taken shelter in a county recreation centre.
Smoke is seen rising from fires in Horry County. Pic: AP/Horry County Fire Rescue
The fire in the area had burned 2.5 square miles as of Sunday evening, the South Carolina Forestry Commission estimated.
No structures had succumbed to the blaze and no injuries had been reported as of Sunday morning, officials said.
It came as fire crews were working to contain multiple wildfires burning in four forests across North Carolina.
The largest covered around 0.6 square miles and burned in Uwharrie National Forest – about 50 miles east of Charlotte.
The North Carolina Forest Service said on Sunday that it had been made progress on the fire, reaching about one-third containment.
People flee an area in Myrtle Beach. Pic: AP
The small southwestern town of Tryon in Polk County, North Carolina, had urged some residents to evacuate on Saturday as a fire spread rapidly there.
The evacuations remained in effect on Sunday.
A decision on whether to lift the evacuation orders was expected to be made on Monday after intentional burns are set to try to stop the fire from spreading.
That fire had burned about 0.8 square miles as of Sunday evening, with 0% containment, according to the Polk County Emergency Management and Fire Marshal’s office.
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A helicopter drops water to help contain a fire in the Carolina Forest area. Pic: AP
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The North Carolina Forest Service was conducting water drops and back-burning operations on the ground and residents should expect a lot of smoke during those operations, officials said.
It comes as at least six active fires were burning in Georgia on Sunday, with nearly 5.8 miles burned in a seven-day span that brought the region gusty winds and low humidity, according to a Georgia Forestry Commission fire summary.
Officials have not said what caused any of the fires.
The dry and gusty conditions fuelling the fires are expected to fade as a cold front pushes out the dry air mass over the southeast of the US and brings rain by Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.
The convergence of warmth, dry air and gusty winds is not inconsistent with the season’s La Niña weather phenomenon, which is associated with warmer, drier winters in the Carolinas, according to North Carolina State University.
The blazes come after two wildfires in Los Angeles killed 29 people and scorched thousands of acres across 24 days.
More than 18,000 structures were damaged or destroyed in the deadly Eaton and Palisades blazes, which swept across California in January.
Cryptocurrency prices have jumped after Donald Trump revealed he would like Bitcoin and other lesser-traded tokens to be in a new US strategic crypto reserve.
He said his January executive order on digital assets would create a stockpile of currencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana and Cardano (ADA).
The names had not previously been announced.
The American president said in a post on Truth Social: “A US Crypto Reserve will elevate this critical industry after years of corrupt attacks by the Biden Administration, which is why my Executive Order on Digital Assets directed the Presidential Working Group to move forward on a Crypto Strategic Reserve that includes XRP, SOL, and ADA.”
“I will make sure the US is the Crypto Capital of the World.”
“And, obviously, BTC and ETH, as other valuable Cryptocurrencies, will be at the heart of the Reserve,” he said in a follow-up post. “I also love Bitcoin and Ethereum!”
Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value, rose over 11% to $94,164 after Sunday’s announcement.
Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, was up around 13% at $2,516.
XRP surged 33% while the token tied to Solana jumped 25%. Cardano’s coin soared more than 60%.
Bitcoin was trading up around 20% from last week’s lows.
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on cryptocurrencies in January. Pic: Reuters
The total cryptocurrency market rose about 10%, or more than $300bn (£238bn), in the hours since the announcement, according to cryptocurrency data and analysis company CoinGecko.
This is the first time Mr Trump has specified his support for a crypto “reserve” rather than a “stockpile”. While the former assumes actively buying crypto in regular installments, a stockpile would not sell any of the crypto currently held by the US government.
Mr Trump is hosting the first White House Crypto Summit on Friday, and investors will be watching closely for more clues about the direction of the reserve plans.
His family have also launched their own coins, including his wife Melania.
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Mr Trump first introduced the idea of a Bitcoin stockpile, which would “keep 100% of all the Bitcoin the US government currently holds or acquires into the future” last summer at major industry conference Bitcoin 2024 in Nashville.
After his re-election to the White House in November, there were more calls for a strategic Bitcoin reserve, helping to send the price of the flagship cryptocurrency to new all-time highs.
Under his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, regulators cracked down on the industry in an attempt to protect Americans from fraud and money laundering.
Under Mr Trump, the Securities and Exchange Commission has withdrawn investigations into several crypto companies and dropped a lawsuit against Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the US.
But in recent weeks, crypto prices have fallen sharply, with some of the biggest digital currencies erasing nearly all of the gains made after Mr Trump’s election win triggered excitement across the industry.
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