President-elect Biden’s relatively restrained view of executive authority

President-elect Joe Biden plans to reverse executive actions taken by President Donald Trump, and in a private virtual meeting with civil rights and progressive groups he made clear he believes there are limits to executive power. While we expect Biden to eventually test the limits of executive power, as every president does, Biden’s remarks are a welcomed commitment to some degree of restraint.

“I am not going to violate the Constitution. Executive authority that my progressive friends talk about is way beyond the bounds,” Biden told the groups last Tuesday, according to recordings obtained by The Intercept.

In his remarks, Biden addressed specifically calls to use executive authority to ban the sale of certain types of firearms.

“There’s no executive authority to do away (with) that,” he said. “And no one has fought harder to get rid of assault weapons than me, me, but you can’t do it by executive order.”

Correctly, Biden noted that one problem with executive orders from the vantage point of those who support any particular policy change made through them is that they’re subject to reversal by subsequent administrations.

But there are obviously other issues.

One is the reality that our system of government makes clear that matters of federal lawmaking should be left to representatives in Congress. As frustrating as Congress can be to act or show restraint, depending on the issue or one’s perspective, our system of government was designed to slow the lawmaking process and require difficult decisions to be carefully scrutinized and achieve broad agreement before laws are enacted.

Presidents have often been irritated with this and have sought to test the limits of their powers in an effort to bypass Congress, often with mixed results.

Biden’s recognition that presidential powers are relatively restrained is a positive sign amid calls for him to use executive power to do all manner of things, from gun restrictions to eliminating student loan debt.

It’s a position he’s reiterated since the Democratic debates and one that puts him at odds with his own vice president.

In one debate, while soon-to-be Vice President Kamala Harris vowed to take executive power if elected president to impose an assault weapons ban, Biden countered there was “no constitutional authority” to do so.

“I would just say, ‘Hey Joe, instead of saying, ‘No we can’t,’ let’s say, ‘Yes we can,’” Harris replied.

Time will tell if Harris’ more expansive view of presidential powers influences Biden’s thinking once he’s in office.

But for those who didn’t vote for Biden and are concerned his administration will usher in sweeping changes unchecked by Congress, there are positive indications a Biden administration will track closer to the center than progressives like.

We encourage Biden to stick to his principled stance that the Constitution does not provide unlimited powers to the president. Presidents, it must be remembered, are not kings.