Here’s what Rand Paul said to a crowd of Tea Party supporters in New Hampshire last night:
“I think the first executive order that I would issue would be to repeal all previous executive orders,” Paul replied to resounding cheers through the Manchester pub, named for the beer bearing the namesakes of American revolutionary Sam Adams.”
Don’t take our word for it, Paul’s comment was reported by Breitbart.com – not exactly a left-leaning news source. Said Paul in the Breitbart article: “Signing statements, altering legislation by the president, are wrong and unconstitutional and shouldn’t happen. Executive orders shouldn’t either.” [Breitbart.com, 9/11/14]
More than ten thousand executive orders have been issued over the course of the nation’s history to make progress on critical issues like civil rights, national security and more. Now that Paul has expressed his commitment to rescinding each and every one of these executive orders, we would like to hear more details from him on why he would like to reverse these landmark efforts, including:
- The Emancipation Proclamation, President Abraham Lincoln, 1863: The proclamation declared “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are, and henceforward shall be free.”
- Executive Order 9981, President Harry Truman, 1948: Ended racial discrimination in the U.S. Armed Forces.
- Executive Order 10834, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1959: Established specifications for the design of the current United States flag.
- Executive Order 10925, President John F. Kennedy, 1961: Ensured equal employment opportunities in the federal government, barring discrimination based on “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”
- Executive Order 11063, President John F. Kennedy, 1962: Mandated an end to housing discrimination based on race.
- Executive Order 11905, President Gerald Ford, 1976: Banned political assassinations.
- Executive Order 11245, President Barack Obama, 2014: Prohibited workplace discrimination based on gender identity, in addition to sexual orientation in the federal government and within companies that contract with the federal government.
Lest you think this was merely a misspeak, we’re here to remind you that just last month, in an interview with a local Kentucky NPR station, Senator Paul vowed that he would use executive orders “only to undo executive orders. There’s thousands of them that can be undone.”
Background
August 2014: Paul Vowed He Would Use Executive Orders “Only To Undo Executive Orders. There’s Thousands Of Them That Can Be Undone.” According to WFPL, “Asked directly if he would issue executive orders as president, Paul said the only circumstance would be to overturn the ones made by his predecessors. ‘Only to undo executive orders. There’s thousands of them that can be undone,’ said Paul. ‘And I would use executive orders to undo executive orders that have encroached on our jurisprudence, our ability to defend ourselves, the right to a trial, all of those I would undo through executive order.’” [WFPL, 8/12/14]
Published: Sep 12, 2014