“So let it be written. So let it be done.” – Yul Brynner as Ramses II in the film “The Ten Commandments”

Sometimes I struggle to come up with something to write for this column.

Other times the idea will fall at my feet like manna from heaven. This column arrived to me after getting my teeth cleaned last week – no cavities, by the way – when I let slip to my dentist that I was teaching a class that afternoon.

She asked about the flurry of executive orders President Donald Trump has been enacting since he took office. Do we not have checks and balances built in that involve the other branches of government?

Well, that is a pretty good question. Let’s take a look.

Regrettably, there is first some background to go through. To begin with, presidents are in charge of most federal government agencies, as you probably know.

Congress passes the laws to create these agencies and sets the general guidelines of what they are allowed to do. Congress also gets to decide how much money those agencies get every year and, to some extent, on what people and projects the money is spent.

It is then up to the president and the people he appoints to run those agencies to make sure they operate according to the rules set by Congress and the budget provided by Congress.

However, there is no way for Congress to pass a law to define what federal agencies can do for every possible situation that arises. For instance, Congress cannot tell the Federal Emergency Management Agency exactly how much bottled water to provide a state after a hurricane because conditions are different after every disaster.

Now we can finally get to executive orders. These orders are basically commands given by the president to some or all federal agencies telling the agencies how they will operate when there are no specific instructions coming from laws passed by Congress.

Situations not addressed by Congressional law can cover a surprising amount of territory. Some of the most well-known executive orders, affirmative action, were based on a series of orders enacted by presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson.

These orders attempted to block any private companies from getting a government contract for their services if the companies had what were considered racially discriminatory employment practices or failed to promote the hiring of underrepresented groups.

Congress has never waded very far into the issue of affirmative action, either for or against it, so how far or how strictly affirmative action orders were to be enforced in the federal government were generally left up to the president to decide.

And that is the drawback to most executive orders. Because Congress does not have a law on the topics covered by executive orders, the orders can be heavily altered or dismissed completely based on the whims of a later president.

As of Feb. 18, Trump has already signed 70 executive orders – some mostly symbolic, others representing a significant policy change. Orders on issues ranging from vaccine mandates to the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency to immigration to TikTok, among numerous others, have been put in place.

Even one of Johnson’s affirmative action executive orders from 60 years ago was repealed as part of Trump’s efforts to purge any government policy that could be considered akin to a diversity, equity and inclusion program.

Without a law from Congress, there is nothing illegal about repealing executive orders, and the same is true if the next president wants to repeal any of Trump’s orders.

As you might expect, some executive orders are being challenged as an overreach of power and in violation of either a law passed by Congress or a provision of the U.S. Constitution.

If a president does try to use power he does not have, it is up to the legislative branch or judicial branch to use their checks to stop him.

Congress can choose to remove the funding needed to carry out the executive order or decrease the federal budget overall as a form of retaliation. Congress can also open investigations into the president and can impeach and remove the president if significant wrongdoing is discovered.

The federal courts can also step in if the president is sued for his actions. An executive order can be struck down by a federal court through judicial review of the order.

My dentist got a much poorer explanation of executive orders than you just received, beloved reader. I am sure you will agree you are the more fortunate one because she will spend the money she received for providing dental services, but you now have knowledge on executive orders you can carry for the rest of your life.