Obama’s Disappearing Ink

Shortly after his inauguration, President Donald Trump hastily arranged a press conference to take place in the Oval Office.  In front of the entire world, the new president signed the first in a series of executive orders reversing or curtailing executive orders issued by President Barack Obama on a variety of issues.  

While Mr. Obama famously remarked that he did not need the cooperation of Congress and could unilaterally govern so long as he had a "pen and a phone," Mr. Trump's first official action presumably signals a deep respect for the traditional understanding of the limits of presidential power.  As if signed with disappearing ink, many of Mr. Obama's most controversial executive orders will now magically disappear from federal law.