WASHINGTON (AP) – Modern American presidents have found that a good way to get off to a fast start in office is to issue decrees like an ancient king.
With a pen as their scepter, they “hereby proclaim.” They “order,” “direct,” “revoke” and “declare,” rendering commandments in regal language drawn from the deep past. President Joe Biden is flooding the zone with them, achieving head-snapping changes in national policy that he would have no hope of getting from Congress quickly, if at all.
Easy come, though, can also mean easy go. As President Donald Trump discovered with his hard-charging and often ill-fated executive actions, courts can be quick to shoot them down. Congress can effectively override them and at most they’re only good until a contrarian president takes over and whipsaws off in another direction again.
Can transgender troops have a life in the armed forces? Not openly under Trump. Under Biden, yes they can. Under who comes next, who knows?
For now, though, the lumbering government is seeing change at light speed.