Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) campaign is reportedly prepping a variety of executive orders in the event that Sanders wins the Democrat nomination and defeats President Trump in November — orders that include stopping the construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall, legalizing marijuana, and declaring climate change a “national emergency,” according to a document obtained by the Washington Post.
Sanders’ aides are crafting a list of potential executive actions the socialist lawmaker may make if he takes the presidency — a move that follows his recent surge in both early state and national polls.
“As we continue discussing the early work of your presidency and the progress we can make, below for review is a brief overview of executive actions you could take early in your administration,” the document, which the Post reviewed, states.
“We cannot accept delays from Congress on some of the most pressing issues, especially those like immigration where Trump has governed with racism and for his own corrupt benefit,” it adds.
Potential executive actions include “unilaterally allowing the United States to import prescription drugs from Canada, directing the Justice Department to legalize marijuana, and declaring climate change a national emergency while banning the exportation of crude oil,” as well as “canceling federal contracts for firms paying workers less than $15 an hour and reversing federal rules blocking U.S. funding to organizations that provide abortion counseling,” per the Post.
The list follows a general state of hesitancy among some on the left, who fear that Sanders’ radical proposals will not come to fruition, especially if Republicans maintain the Senate and take the House this year.
“I love your ideas, Bernie,” one woman at a town hall event in Anamosa, Iowa, told Sanders this month, asking, “But what are you going to do about the partisanship that prevents any good Democrat from getting anywhere in Congress right now?”
“We’re going to run a different type of presidency,” Sanders said, according to the Post.
Sanders has yet to approve the list but is reportedly reviewing it, “according to the two people with knowledge of the planning, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters”: “Those officials said the document was prepared by Faiz Shakir, Sanders’s campaign manager; Warren Gunnels, a senior adviser; and Josh Orton, the campaign policy director, as well as other policy staff.”
Sanders has offered a number of grandiose proposals, including the full implementation of Medicare for All, a $16 trillion Green New Deal, “free” college, and the mass cancellation of student debt.
Sanders has stated on the campaign trail that he would, on day one, “take out [his] executive order pen” to “rescind every damn thing on this issue [immigration] that Trump has done.”