Best Executive Order Yet?
Plus: The Democratic Party's insecurities, protesting Trump via interpretive dance, the Yosemite locksmith, and more...
Pretty good start: On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed what might possibly be his best executive order yet, focused on majorly curbing the power of agencies within his purview. "It is the policy of my Administration to focus the executive branch's limited enforcement resources on regulations squarely authorized by constitutional Federal statutes, and to commence the deconstruction of the overbearing and burdensome administrative state," reads the executive order.
This is an OUTSTANDING Executive Order. It's somewhat nerdy and lawyer-y (which is maybe why I like it so much). But it might be the most significant thing this administration has done to date. https://t.co/GY9c3LPQp5
— Casey Mattox (@CaseyMattox_) February 20, 2025
Consider it in full:
Within 60 days of the date of this order, agency heads shall, in consultation with the Attorney General as appropriate, identify the following classes of regulations:
(i) unconstitutional regulations and regulations that raise serious constitutional difficulties, such as exceeding the scope of the power vested in the Federal Government by the Constitution;
(ii) regulations that are based on unlawful delegations of legislative power;
(iii) regulations that are based on anything other than the best reading of the underlying statutory authority or prohibition;
(iv) regulations that implicate matters of social, political, or economic significance that are not authorized by clear statutory authority;
(v) regulations that impose significant costs upon private parties that are not outweighed by public benefits;
(vi) regulations that harm the national interest by significantly and unjustifiably impeding technological innovation, infrastructure development, disaster response, inflation reduction, research and development, economic development, energy production, land use, and foreign policy objectives; and
(vii) regulations that impose undue burdens on small business and impede private enterprise and entrepreneurship.
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"The broadly written order directs federal agencies and their Department of Government Efficiency teams to comb their regulations for any that violate the administration's priorities, among other factors," reports Politico. "The Office of Management and Budget will then develop plans to rescind or change the regulations."
This is huge for anyone who cares about beginning to peel back the administrative state, or that nasty and overgrown fourth branch of government that's amassed far too much power. It's "a thermonuke deregulatory warhead," says regulatory policy wonk Daniel Goldbeck on X. Of course, we have yet to see how it gets implemented. Trump's first-term "slash two regulations for every one you add" policy was useful, but didn't really go far enough. Without clearly defined metrics and proper incentives, this executive order might not end up accomplishing everything a libertarian might wish, but just defining the problem properly and outlining a clear vision for how it can be massively cut is a mighty good start.
DEI, insecurities, the "groups," and the Democratic Party: "There was a real culture of deference within the Democratic Party leadership to the so-called groups—that's the term that folks like Ezra Klein are now using [for progressive interest groups and activist organizations]. Some of that is just because the groups comprise a large part of the Democratic Party's base and the kind of Democratic Party policymaking apparatus. And they can create problems for you if you go against them, at least in theory. And I think that the fear of a kind of, you know, '68-style convention debacle is part of why Democrats weren't really sure how to handle the Israel-Gaza stuff….I think the same fear of a kind of intra-party blowout probably motivated the differential attitude toward [diversity, equity, and inclusion], at least for a while," Aaron Sibarium tells us on Just Asking Questions. Full show here, worth a watch/listen:
Scenes from New York: OK, look, it's Friday, and I have something that's maybe not super related to libertarianism, but rather to people in our broader orbit: My dear friend (and frequent Reason contributor) Nancy Rommelmann has a new series out on her Substack called CHEFS TALK. In the first episode, Rommelmann interviews our friend Jeff Miller, the brains (and hands! and spirit!) behind sushi restaurant Rosella and recently-Michelin-starred omakase spot Bar Miller. There's a hint of pandemic policy at the beginning there, and it's pretty incredible how Miller handled everything thrown his way by the state and still managed to find such success. Scrappy people and damn good fish will find a way.
QUICK HITS
- The worst thing you've seen in a while: Protesting the Trump administration via interpretive dance. And an NPR writeup to accompany, because of course!
- How legal is Trump's agenda really? Randy Barnett, who argued the medical marijuana case Gonzalez v. Raich before the Supreme Court in 2004, represented the National Federation of Independent Business in its 2012 challenge to the Affordable Care Act in NFIB v. Sebelius, and is all-around wonderful, helped us explore the constitutionality of Trump's early actions. We talk lawfare targeting Trump, Barnett's theory of libertarians being overly sympathetic to the left (NOT THIS ONE thank you very much), birthright citizenship, and much more:
- Huge!
Tomorrow the Supreme Court will consider IJ's cert petition asking whether the Court should overturn Kelo v. New London—the decision that wrote the public use requirement out of the Constitution. pic.twitter.com/C6PEAacZt8
— Matt Liles (@lileslawyer) February 20, 2025
- "Three buses exploded in Tel Aviv area parking lots on Thursday night, raising suspicions of an attempted, coordinated terrorist attack and prompting the Israeli authorities to halt all buses and trains nationwide," reports The New York Times. There were no reports of injuries—in part because of at least one bus being speedily evacuated after a passenger spotted a suspicious bag—and this comes as the fragile ceasefire with Hamas is nearing its end.
- The bodies of October 7 hostages Ariel and Kfir Bibas, who were 4 years old and 9 months old when they were taken by the terrorists, were returned in coffins to their family as part of the ceasefire deal. But Hamas also said it would return their mother, Shiri Bibas; the Israeli military says that the remains in her coffin do not match.
- Rumors are swirling of a "Mar-a-Lago Accord" in which Trump and his team work to restructure America's debt load/make borrowing cheaper/weaken the dollar. "Many of the ideas behind the agenda come from a November 2024 paper by Stephen Miran, Trump's nominee to lead the White House Council of Economic Advisers," notes Bloomberg. "In it, the former Treasury official laid out a road map for reforming the global trading system and weeding out economic imbalances driven by 'persistent dollar overvaluation.'"
- From economist Kyla Scanlon on how Zoomers are making sense of their economic reality: "Gen Z faces a double disruption: AI-driven technological change and institutional instability; Three distinct Gen Z cohorts have emerged, each with different relationships to digital reality; A version of the barbell strategy is splitting career paths between 'safety seekers' and 'digital gamblers'; Our fiscal reality is quite stark right now, and that is shaping how young people see opportunities." Full version here.
- "The NBA suspended Milwaukee forward Bobby Portis Jr. for 25 games without pay on Thursday because he tested positive for the painkiller Tramadol, a violation of the league's anti-drug program," reports the Associated Press. He will lose $3 million in salary for missing the games. Portis maintains that it was an "honest mistake"—that he mixed up Tramadol and Toradol. And the coach of the Milwaukee Bucks said "you would think we could do something less severe" given the one-time nature of it, and the evidence pointing to the fact that Portis truly consumed the drug accidentally.
- Yes:
Every revelation is basically, "we do things in incredibly effed up ways and this has revealed the incredible effed uppedness of our ways that no private entity could ever withstand, but we can with your money, and the real problem is you have noticed our sacred effed up ways." https://t.co/d4m06IB35k
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) February 21, 2025
