The Administrative Procedures Act does not apply to executive orders, but it can apply to agencies acting to implement executive orders. The APA requires executive departments and agencies to hold public hearings for each new regulation and provide citizens with advance notice of those hearings to give us enough time to read and react. In 1992, the Supreme Court held in Franklin v. Massachusetts that a President’s actions are not subject to the APA. In 2020, however, the court ruled that the Department of Homeland Security had not followed APA requirements when implementing the President’s immigration policy.
Excepted from Trust and The Presidency, Part 5 of 7.
Image: Executive order for border security and immigration enforcement. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP.
