Advocates Lay Out Case for Obama Contractor Executive Order in Memo to Rep. Barney Frank
Posted by Chris Geidner |
February 4, 2012 9:00 PM

http://www.metroweekly.com/poliglot/2012/02/advocates-lay-out-case-for-oba.html

Although the White House remains silent about the status of a proposed executive order to ban LGBT discrimination among federal contractors, some of D.C.'s leading LGBT advocates and lawmakers have been meeting to strengthen the case for and work out the details of the proposal, Metro Weekly has learned.

In mid-January, the House's longtime lead sponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) received a lengthy memo from leading LGBT advocates and researchers laying out the case for why President Obama should take action now by executive order to protect LGBT employees who work for federal contractors from sexual orientation or gender identity discrimination.

On Jan. 13, those advocates met with Diego Sanchez, Frank's senior policy advisor, to discuss the proposal in depth, presenting him with the memo, which, in addition to describing the nondiscrimination proposal, details that the executive order could require contractors to provide domestic partner benefits for their employees.

Executive orders issued by the President must not attempt to make law.  They can only be lawfully issued pursuant to an Act of Congress, to further execution of the law, or to give direction to the executive branch of goverment so as to carry out its duties.

The US Supreme Court established a bright line limit on the power of the Presideny to issue Executive orders in the Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company case back in the early 1950's.