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Last week, we brought you the story of the latest unprecedented congressional Republican weapon against the White House: the frivolous lawsuit. Specifically, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) is considering legal action to overturn the president's executive orders (EOs) in spite of the fact that every president since George Washington has used executive orders to enact policies and implement congressional legislation, among other things.

Since then, there have been a lot of tweets, memes and online discussions about how President Obama has issued considerably fewer EOs than nearly every president since the second Grover Cleveland administration, and in fact the absolute fewest EOs among all two-term presidents, even if he signs 100 more over the next two years. This is empirically true and, as with many of the GOP attacks against this administration, the reality of what happened prior to January 20, 2009 reveals a cynical double-standard, not to mention the existence of mass hypocrisy on behalf of the opposition party. But the numbers only tell half the story.

On this week's Fox News Sunday, anchor Chris Wallace grilled Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA) over the nature of the Obama EOs, while Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA-real-name) lashed out with the usual nonsense about how the president's constitutional role is merely to "faithfully execute the laws" -- not to "take powers resting in the Congress" or to change "laws that have been passed." Wallace listed four allegedly very serious presidential trespasses against the Constitution, trespasses which the GOP believes are lawsuit worthy:

Ordered DOJ to stop defending DOMA (Feb. 2011)
--Deferred deportations (June 2012)
--Raised min wage for fed contractors (Feb. 2014)
--Dozens of changes to Obamacare (2011-present)
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The Democrats are delaying my cabinet picks for purely political reasons. They have nothing going but to obstruct. Now have an Obama A.G.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the face of widespread criticism, President Donald Trump has staunchly defended his order temporarily banning refugees and nearly all citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries. But in a statement Sunday and tweets Monday, Trump misstated the facts multiple times.
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TRUMP: In a Twitter message Monday, he said “Only 109 people out of 325,000 were detained and held for questioning. Big problems at airports were caused by Delta computer outage.”


THE FACTS: According to a federal law enforcement official briefed on the implementation of the order, nearly 400 green-card holders actually were delayed after arriving at U.S. airports after the travel ban was signed. As of Sunday afternoon, one legal permanent resident had been denied entry as a result of the order, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person wasn’t allowed to discuss the matter publicly.

Delta Airlines did report a computer problem that forced the cancellation of more than 150 flights on Sunday. The chaos and protests at airports around the country began before that happened and were related to the travel ban, not delayed or cancelled flights. (More)

WASHINGTON—U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is citing the Sunday terrorist attack on Muslims at a mosque in Quebec City as an example of why his own anti-terror policies are needed — though those policies have targeted Muslims and though the accused killer is not Muslim.

“We condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms. It’s a terrible reminder of why we must remain vigilant, and why the president is taking steps to be proactive, rather than reactive, when it comes to our nation’s safety and security,” press secretary Sean Spicer said at his daily briefing on Monday....

Tracking the 45th president of the United States, one day at a time.

Meters of the wall built
0

Obama actions unpicked
5

Nights spent at White House
9 out of 9

Number of tweets
101

People, places and things recently insulted

The New York Times
Mexico
Chelsea Manning

This is a remarkable day. When Donald Trump was elected president, we promised that if he tried to implement his unconstitutional and un-American policies that we would take him to court. We did that today. And we won.

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The United States is a nation governed by the rule of law and not the iron will of one man. President Trump now has learned that we are democratic republic where the powers of government are not dictatorial. They are limited. The courts are the bulwark of our democracy that protects individual rights and guards against the overreaching of an administration that confuses its will for the American public’s.

Tonight was one of the most incredible experiences of my life, one that demonstrates that the people united will never be divided. This is only the beginning. This is merely the first skirmish in a long battle to vigorously defend the Bill of Rights from the authoritarian designs of the Trump administration.

Savor this victory tonight, but prepare to fight on.