Among the most notable were a temporary hiring freeze on federal employees, ending birthright citizenship, and granting TikTok more time to broker a deal with the federal government to stay operational in the United States.

Trump also rescinded 78 of former President Joe Biden’s executive orders and actions, some of which were made by Biden to undo policies from Trump’s first administration.

FROM IMMIGRATION TO TIKTOK: THE TRUMP ACTIONS ALREADY FACING LEGAL THREATS

Presidents have the power to make executive orders, executive memoranda, and executive proclamations, which allow them to shape how they want their policies to be fulfilled.

Here is a breakdown of how to distinguish the three.

What is an executive order?

Executive orders allow the president to make decisions about how federal leadership and agencies will operate. They do not require congressional approval, nor can Congress simply overturn them. They must be published in the Federal Register to notify the public.

“Congress may pass legislation that might make it difficult, or even impossible, to carry out the order, such as removing funding,” the American Bar Association’s website reads. “Only a sitting U.S. President may overturn an existing executive order by issuing another executive order to that effect.”

One way in which Congress could circumvent an executive order is by passing a bill that cuts off funding for an initiative or policy.

The Supreme Court also has the authority to rule on the constitutionality of an executive order. According to the Library of Congress, executive orders are legitimate if they are “founded on the authority of the president derived from the Constitution or statute.”

“It can’t replace or contravene statutes enacted by Congress, it can only ‘fill in the gaps,’” wrote Susan Sullivan Lagon of the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University.

In 1952, the Supreme Court ruled against an executive order from then-President Harry Truman. The high court claimed he did not have the authority from the Constitution to seize steel mills to ensure production for the military during the Korean War.

During his first administration, Trump issued 220 executive orders.

How do executive memoranda and proclamations differ?

Executive memoranda are less formal and are not required to cite the president’s legal authority or appear in the Federal Register, making them harder to track. Federal memoranda are “used to manage administrative matters of the federal government.”

Presidential proclamations are generally used to monitor the activities and actions of private citizens but tend not to have the force of the law. They are often made to share information about holidays and federal observances. For example, Biden made a proclamation to have all flags lowered to half-staff for 30 days when former President Jimmy Carter died.