What is the difference between a law, a regulation and an executive order?

#Statutes come first

Congress and state legislatures pass statutes. A statute can create a program, set rules for everyone or give an agency the power to act. Agencies get their power to write regulations from statutes. An agency may not go beyond that power or violate the Constitution. In federal rulemaking, the words “rule” and “regulation” mean the same thing.

#How a federal regulation is made

The Administrative Procedure Act sets the usual steps.

1. The agency publishes a proposed rule in the Federal Register and cites its legal authority.
2. The public can comment, often for 30 to 60 days.
3. The agency considers the comments and publishes a final rule that explains its basis and purpose.
4. Most final rules take effect at least 30 days after publication.

Some documents, such as interpretive rules and policy statements, can skip notice and comment. Final rules go into the Code of Federal Regulations, which has 50 titles.

#How courts read the laws agencies use

For 40 years, under Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council (1984), courts deferred to an agency’s reasonable reading of an unclear statute. On June 28, 2024, in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the Supreme Court overruled Chevron. Courts must now use their own judgment to decide what a statute means, though the agency’s view can inform them. Past rulings that upheld specific agency actions under Chevron are not automatically reopened. Chief Justice Roberts wrote the majority opinion, and Justice Kagan wrote the dissent.

#Other checks on regulations

A court can set aside an agency action that goes beyond the agency’s legal authority, skips required procedures or is “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion.” Congress can also overturn a rule under the Congressional Review Act. It must pass a joint resolution of disapproval, which the president signs or Congress passes over a veto. A rule overturned this way cannot be reissued in substantially the same form unless a later law allows it.

#Executive orders and ordinances

An executive order is an official, numbered document the president uses to manage the federal government. Orders with general legal effect are published in the Federal Register. A president’s power to issue an order must come from the Constitution or a statute, as the Supreme Court held in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952). An ordinance is a law passed by a local body, such as a city council, using powers that state law gives it.