Expert: Trump can’t override Minnesota state law with executive orders

[MUSIC PLAYING] NINA MOINI: As of 11 o'clock this morning, President Donald Trump and JD Vance have been sworn in as the 47th President and Vice President of the United States. The ceremony, traditionally held at the US Capitol grounds, was moved indoors to the rotunda due to cold temperatures. Trump is now the second US President in history to serve nonconsecutive terms. He's the first president in US history to enter the White House with a felony conviction.

In his inaugural speech to members of Congress, former presidents, and VIPs, Trump outlined some of the executive orders he plans to sign, including a crackdown on illegal immigration, a promise to eliminate certain diversity and gender policies, a declaration of a national energy emergency, and more. Joining us now to talk about the inauguration and the incoming administration is Kathryn Pearson, Political Science Professor at the University of Minnesota. Thank you so much for joining us, professor.

KATHRYN PEARSON: My pleasure. Great to be with you.

NINA MOINI: Thanks for waiting with all of that. I hope that you were, obviously, able to listen. What are some of your main takeaways from this ceremony, President Trump saying that we are entering a golden era for America?

KATHRYN PEARSON: One of my main takeaways is what a difference eight years makes. This was a dramatically different inaugural address than President Trump gave eight years ago. Eight years ago, it was only 16 minutes. It was the shortest inaugural address in history. And it was very light on specifics.

Today we heard a much longer speech, a very specific speech, really historically so, and, at times, a very partisan speech. There were a couple of calls for unity. There was a lot of hyperbole, a lot of sweeping statements, and a lot of specifics, some of which will be incredibly hard to attain, frankly.

But another big difference today than compared to eight years ago is even though President Trump entered with a unified party control in Washington, a Republican House and a Republican Senate, many of those Republican legislators didn't know President Trump. And in fact, several didn't support him in the nominating contest.

And today, he has already laid the groundwork with Republican leaders and Republican legislators who much more uniformly support him. Now, his margin in the House is slimmer, but there's already a lot of preparation that's gone into that. He has a partner in Speaker Mike Johnson.

And eight years ago, Trump spent half of 2017 trying to repeal Obamacare, which never happened. And so I think we'll see-- we're already seeing a lot of differences. The up to 100 executive orders we're hearing today compared to just a handful in January of 2017.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, and we have yet to learn some of the specifics there. That number 100 seems like so many. We just got a communication professor from the White House Press Office, the first official one, breaking down here are some of the focus areas for the administration. And they broke it up into safety, a lot of it related to the US border, energy, and then American or family values that they would call it.

So that's how they were breaking it down. But in terms of these executive orders, can you remind us or explain for those who don't know what kind of power do executive orders have? And then can they be challenged? Or how does that work?

KATHRYN PEARSON: Right. Well, every president issues executive orders or executive actions in some case that direct the Federal Government to do something. But many of them actually are challenged in court because, in our system of separated powers, it is Congress's job to legislate and make important decisions.

So for example, in President Trump's first term, a series of federal court battles actually blocked him from redirecting funds toward building a border wall under a national emergency declaration. And so, even as he is declaring a national emergency at the border today, it's unclear where that will take us in court.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, and he was declaring national emergencies as well, one at the Southern border and then also a national energy emergency. Can you talk to us about how these national emergency declarations work and what they allow the executive branch to do?

KATHRYN PEARSON: Right. Well, the emergency at the border, the Trump administration has suggested that what it will mean is that they will erect physical barriers to support a US and Mexico border wall and that construction and then also that the Secretary of Defense will deploy military troops. But it's unclear how many troops and exactly where they will be assigned at the Southern border.

And I also want to note, it's actually unclear what emergency the Trump administration is responding to, as border crossings in 2024 have declined significantly compared to their high record highs in 2023. So we typically think of immigration policy as something that the Congress works on legislation and that the president signs those bills into law.

And as I mentioned eight years ago, there were a number of court decisions that blocked the Trump administration from doing everything that they wanted to do with the border. So I think it's expected that we'll see many executive orders today dealing with immigration. But what's not clear is how many will actually be successful.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, and as Minnesotans, here in the state of Minnesota, we like to think, how will this impact our state? How does state laws, how do they interact with federal laws? And how do you foresee some of the federal policies or executive orders interacting with laws that are already on the books here in the state of Minnesota?

KATHRYN PEARSON: And that is a great question that we'll see unfold in real time. But some of these executive orders that Trump talked about in vague terms today talked about calling on both federal and state resources. And obviously, state resources are up to states to decide what they want to do.

And so I think that we will see some divergence in Democratically controlled states and Republican-controlled states in terms of responding to some of Trump's requests. But he can't just direct states to do some of these things that are up to state law, state courts, and would be the result of state legislative action and a governor signing legislation into law. One thing that President Trump has said that he would do that relates to Minnesota and his energy goals specifically is reversing the 20-year mining ban that President Biden imposed on the Superior National Forest near the Boundary Waters.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, and we have our reporters across the state. I know Dan Crocker is looking into that in Duluth, and we're going to be checking into what people cover on their beats. And we'll be following all these very closely as time unfolds here.

Do you think that Governor Tim Walz, having been on the presidential ticket with Kamala Harris, still matters for President Trump? Do you think that he might zero in on Minnesota or policies here because of maybe some bad feelings from the election? Or do you feel like that time has passed?

KATHRYN PEARSON: That is a very good question, and I think it's a question that relates to Minnesota but then other Democratic states, such as California. I mean, President Trump has said that he will apply conditions to aid for the fires in California because of his disagreement with state policies.

And so there is a blend of federal and state policy here. But I think ultimately it is up to Congress to pass federal aid to various states. And I think, in the case of Minnesota, it is no secret that Trump and Walz don't necessarily get along. But having said that, I think that Walz will be really focused on what the state legislature is doing and legislation that will affect Minnesota specifically.

NINA MOINI: In your role as a professor and somebody who analyzes these happenings and talks with all of us a great deal and breaks things down, what are you going to be watching for, I'm curious, in the immediate few months and then maybe a little further out with the new administration?

KATHRYN PEARSON: Well, certainly in the immediate days that follow, just what sounds like will be a historic number of executive orders and executive actions, so exactly what will President Trump be signing today and in the days to come in the three domains that he's most interested in and then what the reaction will be, both from-- I mean, the court reaction, obviously, that would be very much a long-term thing.

A Republican Congress seems enthusiastic about a lot of these. But it is also important to note that the Republican Congress has some challenges ahead. There are only about 50 days, 50 some-odd days until a government shutdown. And even though Republicans control Congress, they still need to pass those spending bills. And there will be some policy and spending conflict within the Republican Party as well.

It is also the case that the Republican Congress [AUDIO OUT] a reconciliation bill in order to pursue President Trump's goals on taxes. Reconciliation bills just relate to spending, but policy can be added to them, as long as it relates to spending specifically. And a lot of Republicans actually want to save some of these items in executive orders for reconciliation because they can affect the bottom line and help pay for tax cuts. So that will be an internal battle with Congress and the president.

NINA MOINI: And so just to clarify, again, for folks, even though the executive orders are being signed, there still might be a ways to go in actually implementing some of the wishes of President Trump.

KATHRYN PEARSON: Absolutely, absolutely.

NINA MOINI: Well, as always, we thank you for your time, Professor Pearson, and we look forward to hearing from you as the months go on and more of your analysis. Thank you.

KATHRYN PEARSON: Thank you so much, I appreciate it.

NINA MOINI: That was Kathryn Pearson, Political Science Professor at the University of Minnesota.