# Executive Orders **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 10, 2012, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/executive-orders/634310 "2012-09-10T18:15:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bud111](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d26b3c/32.png) [@Bud111](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bud111)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/executive-orders/634310/1 "2012-09-10T18:15:22Z")
Could President Obama use executive orders to create millions of jobs (Without Congress) as stated in: [https://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/11/08](https://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/11/08) ? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/executive-orders/634310/2 "2012-09-10T18:46:36Z")
The author seems to have some fundamental misunderstandings of how the WPA worked. It’s certainly true that it was created via executive order (the president can create _ad-hoc_ administrative agencies to his heart’s content.) But the budget for the WPA’s programs was appropriated by Congress as part of the [Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Relief_Appropriation_Act_of_1935) and thereafter as part of the normal annual budget process. The present Congress is less likely to cooperate with the president on any radical programs, and the popular attitude towards large direct-employment programs by the federal government has soured markedly during the intervening generations. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/executive-orders/634310/3 "2012-09-10T18:51:28Z")
My understanding is yes… for a while. BUT, Congress controls the budget, so in theory they could cut spending or block appropriations in order to put a stop to this.