Presidential directives are declarations that are given by the president on how the executive branch of the government will be run. These directives initially were just administrative tools that guided the executive and Federal agencies, but, over the years they have evolved to be used as laws and policies. For example, in the Department of homeland there are three Presidential Directives that affect Environmental Protection Agency in responding to national emergency issues.
These presidential directives are; HSPD-5 that established the development of the National Incident Management System and National Response Framework to handle domestic incidents, HSPD-7 Critical Infrastructure Identification, Prioritization and Protection that demand federal agencies to be responsible for the protection of critical infrastructure and HSPD-8 National Preparedness that requires Federal agencies to be prepared to respond to terrorism attacks in any part of the nation (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2022).
Executive Orders
On the other hand, executive orders are directives (policy, which may have a force of law) that are given by the president using the powers bestowed on him by the U.S. constitution to guide how the government will work within a given time period. Executive orders do not go through Congress for approval and the Congress cannot revoke them. But, Congress can lender executive orders useless if it fails to approve funds meant to put the order into force. This gives the president an opportunity to change policies without going through Congress (History.com Editors, 2021). Executive orders are published orderly in the Federal Register as they are issued.
The major disadvantage with executive orders is that the president can misuse them. There are many controversial laws that affect the Americans today and are as a result of executive orders. For example, in 2021 President Biden signed executive order 14042 that require all organizations with more than 100 employees to ensure all the employees are vaccinated against Covid-19 (The White House, 2020). This mandatory vaccination order though borrows from the U.S. constitution, statutory laws and previous laws it contravenes the civil liberties of American citizens. It does respect the beliefs of the American people.
The Benefits of Presidential Actions
Though marred with controversy, presidential directives and executive order are meant to safeguard the private citizen. For example, after 9/11 attack, George Bush, the former president, signed executive order 13228 that established the Office of Homeland Security (Relyea, 2008). Before the attack the security of American citizens was not tight. The eyes of the security agencies were focused on foreign nation attacks. But, this executive order changed that perspective. The domestic security became important to the executive branch of the government. Americans and their properties are now secure than before executive order 13228.
The other benefit of presidential action is that it makes the citizens to be secured without delays. What if the Covid-19 vaccination mandate went through Congress? The members of the Congress could take a lot of time debating yet the virus was killing the citizens. In a situation that require immediate action to be taken Presidential action is necessary and it benefits the common citizen.
Executive Order That Have Impacted Homeland Security
A good example of a recent executive order that have an impact on Homeland security is executive order 13905 which was signed by Trump, the former president in 2020. The order was meant to strengthen the National Resilience by responsible use of Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Services. The order identifies the Global Positioning System (GPS) as part of critical infrastructure. This is because it supports other critical infrastructure systems like transport, electricity grid, communication, weather forecasting and other emergence response systems. If this critical infrastructure is disrupted or manipulated it can affect national and economic security of United States (Federal Register, 2020).
The executive order 13905 required the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Defense and of Transport to work together with Sector Specific Agencies to determine the vulnerabilities in the PNT services and update the Federal Radio Navigation Plan. This was to ensure the PNT services are reliable, efficient and used in a right way by the operators.
Judicial Review: Executive Order
Executive orders can be revoked by a court of law if they are not in line with the statutory law and the constitution. The judicial review of executive orders acts as the check and balances of presidential actions. For example, when Trump issued Executive Order 13780 in 2017 with an aim of protecting entry of foreign terrorists into the United States, the courts challenged it and it was suspended. Trump had to revised the order and exclude some of the nations (Federal Register, 2017).
