President Obama famously warned the business world: “I’ve got a pen, and I’ve got a phone.” Tamara Keith, “Wielding a Pen and a Phone, Obama Goes It Alone,” NPR (Jan. 20, 2014). The message was clear: The President was now in the business of wielding executive power to regulate without Congress when and where he or she willed. On January 20, 2025, every American corporation will face a new President, with their own pen and a phone—wielding the full power of the administrative state—on Day 1.
Part I of this two-part series laid out the competing visions of former President Trump and Vice President Harris for the administrative state and suggested how each might govern based on past performance and statements. We also overviewed shifts in the legal landscape that will frame executive action and judicial oversight in the next presidential administration.