EXECUTIVE ORDERS

PAGE ONE

Panel 1

In a White House hallway leading to the Oval Office, a Project 2025 hump walks toward us in glasses, suit, and bowtie, with stubble and slicked-back hair. He addresses the reader directly, carrying a huge stack of executive orders in one arm. With his other hand he holds up two curled fingers doing “air quotes.” For the sake of labeling his dialogue, we’re going to call him WORMTONGUE.

WORMTONGUE: An executive order is an instrument that wields the president’s discretionary power to put bold new policies and regulations directly into effect—

WORMTONGUE: —without any vetting from those meddlesome congresspeople and their “checks” and “balances.”

Panel 2

Wormtongue breezes through the hallway like he owns the place.

WORMTONGUE: All presidents use them. Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued the most of any president–over three thousand.

WORMTONGUE: They’re usually pitched to the president by federal agencies, but heck, anyone can take a shot, right?

Panel 3

Wormtongue opens the Oval Office door, grinning. We can make out the figure of Donald Trump sitting inside.

WORMTONGUE: Project 2025 proposes around eighty actions to overhaul federal policy by getting the president to issue new executive orders, revise existing orders, and revoke any old orders we don’t like.

WORMTONGUE: Executive orders are a remarkable way to wield the power of the president…

WORMTONGUE (very small text): …’s signature.

Panel 4

Wormtongue addresses the president directly, placing the stack of executive orders on the Resolute Desk. Behind the desk, Donald Trump has very tiny hands.

WORMTONGUE: Good morning, sir, and congratulations on taking office!

WORMTONGUE: Brought you a stack of these.

TRUMP: Yeah, let’s see ’em.

Panel 5

Wormtongue points to the executive order, and Trump signs it with a Sharpie.

WORMTONGUE: This one kills the Office of Domestic Climate Policy and replaces it with a single guy reporting to your chief of staff.

CAPTION: *Page 61 of Project 2025’s Mandate for Leadership

Panel 6

Same shot, same action, but this time Wormtongue is holding his hands up in excitement.

WORMTONGUE: This one guts the Office for Civil Rights’ power to prosecute any kind of discrimination in public schools.

CAPTION: *page 357

PAGE TWO

Panel 1

Same panel, but a little time has passed.  A stack of signed executive orders sits to Trump’s right, and Wormtongue holds up a finger as he explains.

WORMTONGUE: This one encourages intelligence agencies not to waste a lot of effort collecting surveillance data when they can just buy it from private sector facial recognition companies like Clearview AI.

CAPTION: *Page 206

Panel 1

Same panel, but the pile of signed documents has grown, and Wormtongue is rubbing his hands together with glee.

WORMTONGUE: This one outlaws “critical race theory” training.

WORMTONGUE (linked): Anywhere and everywhere.

CAPTION: *page 582

Panel 3

Same panel, but the pile continues to grow, and Wormtongue peers over the newest document, pressing his fingers to the edge.

WORMTONGUE: This one classifies apps like TikTok as a national security concern and throttles service so they just stop working.

TRUMP: What’s wrong with TikTok?

WORMTONGUE: China.

CAPTION: *Page 674

Panel 4

Same panel, but Wormtongue is leaning an elbow on the growing document pile.

WORMTONGUE: This one switches the global gag rule back on–yet again–in the constant back-and-forth between our two parties about providing funds for reproductive health and education to foreign NGOs.

CAPTION: *Page 261

Panel 5

Same panel, but Wormtongue is leaning forward and shouting excitedly. The pile grows.

WORMTONGUE: Migrants, refugees, asylum-seekers? We don’t want ’em. This order–

PRESIDENT: Okay, I don’t need to hear what each one is, thanks. Just keep them coming.

CAPTION: *Page 151

Panel 6

The president signs away while Wormtongue rocks on his feet in boredom with his hands in his pockets, looking around. A musical note floats up from his head, indicating a whistle. The stack of signed executive orders on the right has reached the top of the panel.