WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is preparing to sign a series of executive orders on a range of topics as part of a shift in White House strategy that’s aimed at trying to boost Americans’ confidence in his leadership amid widespread criticism of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to administration officials.
The effort to reposition the president as proactive, rather than on the defense over his response to coronavirus, comes as he trails his presumptive re-election opponent, Joe Biden, in multiple polls less than four months before the election. It’s coupled with a plan for Trump to return to headlining coronavirus briefings, which he stopped attending in April after even some of his allies said they were too lengthy, wide-ranging and hurting the president.
A senior administration official said the executive orders will include policy changes on immigration, the Census, prescription drugs and health care. While declining to discuss further details, the official said the executive action would call for a “merit based” immigration system and address the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that has allowed nearly 800,000 young people, known as Dreamers, to avoid deportation.
Trump has tried to shut down the program, created by his predecessor through executive order, and last month the Supreme Court ruled that his administration could not end the program simply by declaring it illegal. Still, the White House plans to seize on the ruling as license to take broad executive actions, the senior administration official said.
Trump has repeatedly said that the Supreme Court’s DACA ruling gave him new authority, or invited him to take additional steps. It did neither, nor could the Supreme Court expand a president’s authority.
“It’s essentially implementing policy to the extent we can,” according to this official, adding that the White House counsel’s office is confident the president is on solid legal ground.
The plan for Trump to flex his executive authority comes after he’s spent three-and-a-half years in office and struggled to get legislative traction on his immigration initiatives. And he’s been unsuccessful in securing a health care bill, as he promised during the 2016 campaign, even when Republicans controlled both chambers of Congress.
The White House is anticipating legal challenges to some of the executive actions the president plans to roll out in coming weeks. The senior administration official said the first executive order Trump signs is likely on the Census or prescription drugs, which would be aimed at lowering prices.
The Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision on DACA argued that to shut down the program the administration needed to take a different approach than the one it has tried. The president said his administration would put forward a different approach to address the court’s ruling but has yet to do so.
Trump and his allies have said for weeks that he’s looking to take significant executive actions on immigration and health care.
In an interview with Fox News Sunday, Trump said he would take action on health care. Two weeks ago he said similar about DACA.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said on June 9 that the president was looking to enact “executive orders that will actually make a big difference,” specifically ones crafted to lower prescription drug prices.
