The Biden Administration Should Signal its Commitment to the Rule of Law by Rescinding the Anti-ICC Executive Order on Day One

Abstract

The Biden administration should rescind President Trump’s executive order attacking the ICC immediately upon taking office. The new administration will have many urgent action items and it may not be immediately apparent why it should give priority to revoking an order that undermines an institution to which the United States is not a party. This comment explains that the importance of this action extends beyond the illegality of the order and the harm it is causing, to the urgent need to signal that the United States is recommitted to the rule of law. By perverting a tool intended to protect people and deter human rights, and using it instead to attack an institution devoted to those aims, the Trump administration has undermined the rule of law in the United States and expressed its disregard for the global rule of law. When President Trump declared ICC efforts to investigate crimes by U.S. personnel to be a “national emergency,” he abused the discretion afforded presidents to keep the United States safe, essentially placing himself above the rule of law. Moreover, by attacking the judicial independence of the ICC, President Trump is seeking to undermine global rule of law. In immediately rescinding the executive order, President Biden will not only undo an illegal action by his predecessor, he will signal to the world a renewed U.S. commitment to the rule of law.