executive order

noun

(often initial capital letters)

1. an order having the force of law issued by the president of the U.S. to the army, navy, or other part of the executive branch of the government.

Word History and Origins

Origin of executive order¹

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85

Example Sentences

In 1942, right after Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the executive order that led to Japanese internment, wherein 100,000 Japanese Americans were sent to camps, the federal government ripped through the Japanese American fishing village on this very spot and destroyed it.

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Pritzker, the Democratic governor and possible 2028 presidential candidate, signed an executive order to establish the Illinois Accountability Commission.

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Over the course of three days, Bush’s protest galvanized her fellow progressive lawmakers and even pulled in former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, all piling on to urge the administration to extend the moratorium via executive order.

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The president recently signed an executive order declaring antifa a “domestic terrorist organization,” which is not a legal designation.

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Just last August the same repressive strategy drove a ludicrous presidential executive order demanding only “classical architecture” for America’s new civic buildings.

Read more on Los Angeles Times