Disordered★ Executive ★ Filed September 30, 2026 · Source: Federal Register

The theater is real. The permanence is not.

Every executive order, ranked by how easily it can be undone.

Every executive order looks permanent. Most are paperwork. This index separates the orders that changed how the government runs from the orders that changed what a lake is called, and scores each one by the actual effort required to erase it.

285
Executive orders since Jan 20, 2025
21
Months of output
26
Orders that revoke other orders
16
Flagged by the theater detector
Exhibit A

Output by Month

Signature volume per calendar month. January 2025 remains the record: 46 executive orders in twelve days, a pace normally associated with printers, not presidents.

46
J’25
30
F
33
M
34
A
14
M
9
J
15
J
17
A
11
S
ran out of
diet cokes
1
O
7
N
8
D
10
J’26
8
F
10
M
4
A
5
M
6
J
2
J
7
A
8
S

EO 14147 through EO 14431. Data: Federal Register API, updated September 30, 2026.

Exhibit B

The Reversal Taxonomy

Every order in the index is assigned a tier based on the legal effort required to undo it.

Tier 1

The Instant Kills

Symbolic directives, renamings, commissions, and press releases wearing a seal. A new president revokes these with one signature. Estimated effort: five seconds per order.

Tier 2

The Mid-Level Freezes

Orders steering agency guidance or grant money. Freezable on Day One with a memo, but the underlying guidance takes months to formally rewrite.

Tier 3

The Deep Scrapes

Orders that made it into actual federal regulations. Undoing these means the full notice-and-comment process: months of procedure, lawyers, and public dockets.

Exhibit C

The Day One Hit List

The current top of the index: orders scoring highest for pure theater, presented as an actionable checklist for any future transition team. You are welcome.

EO 14422 Aug 27, 2026 TIER 1INSTANT KILL

Honoring the American History of the Great Lakes and Renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America

Theater score 100/100

Detector flags: renames things.

Immediate ImpactLake Ontario is now, in federal usage, Lake America. The order reasons that because the deepest parts of the lake lie on the American side, the United States claims most of its volume. The name being replaced is more than 400 years old and predates both countries. Canada and New York were not consulted and are not participating.
Long-Term OutlookThe incoming president signs one document and the lake resumes its previous name, which it never stopped having in Canada and New York.
EO 14172 Jan 20, 2025 TIER 1INSTANT KILL

Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness

Theater score 69/100

Detector flags: renames things; invokes greatness; restores a thing that arguably never left.

Immediate ImpactThe largest gulf in the world and the tallest mountain in North America received new names. The geography was not consulted and has not changed. Mexico, which shares the gulf, was also not consulted, and continues to call it what it has always called it.
Long-Term OutlookThe incoming president must survive the grueling ordeal of writing a second name on a second document. Recovery time: minimal.
EO 14381 Jan 30, 2026 TIER 1INSTANT KILL

Celebrating American Greatness With American Motor Racing

Theater score 50/100

Detector flags: exists to celebrate something; invokes greatness.

Immediate ImpactThe government's position on cars going fast is now official. A press release was issued and enjoyed.
Long-Term OutlookA future administration must undertake the solemn and irreversible process of signing a different piece of paper. Estimated duration: five seconds. Estimated resistance: none.
EO 14208 Feb 10, 2025 TIER 1INSTANT KILL

Ending Procurement and Forced Use of Paper Straws

Theater score 50/100

Detector flags: is about drinking straws; ends a thing by announcing the end of it.

Immediate ImpactThe federal government now has an official position on drinking straws. The position is: not paper.
Long-Term OutlookReversal requires one signature, plus whatever time it takes to locate a pen.
EO 14274 Apr 15, 2025 TIER 2MID-LEVEL FREEZE

Restoring Common Sense to Federal Office Space Management

Theater score 46/100

Detector flags: claims common sense; restores a thing that arguably never left; exists partly to revoke a previous order.

Immediate ImpactRestores common sense to federal office space management, revoking the rules that kept federal offices downtown.
Long-Term OutlookLocation policy reverses by signature; the leases signed in between run their full terms regardless of whose sense is common.

View the full hit list →

Exhibit D

Latest Filings

OrderSignedTitleTierTheater
EO 14431Sep 18, 2026Enhancing Program Integrity and Interagency Coordination in the Administration of the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa ProgramTier 20
EO 14430Sep 17, 2026Restoring American Saltwater Angling and RecreationTier 114
EO 14429Sep 17, 2026Reinvigorating America's Hunting HeritageTier 10
EO 14428Sep 16, 2026Providing Meaningful Water Quality Improvements Through Collaboration and Oversight of Federal SupportTier 212
EO 14427Sep 8, 2026Adjusting Certain Delegations Under the Defense Production ActTier 10
EO 14426Sep 8, 2026Accelerating Access to Veterans' Benefits and Employment OpportunitiesTier 20
EO 14425Sep 4, 2026Supporting America's RanchersTier 20
EO 14424Sep 4, 2026Promoting Fair Competition in Livestock Markets and Expanding Market Access for American Meat ProducersTier 20

View all 285 orders →

Methodology

How the Index Works

The data is real. Every order, date, and document link comes from the Federal Register's public API. The scoring is editorial. A pattern detector flags orders whose titles exhibit known symptoms of theater (renaming things, restoring greatness, celebrating celebrations, extending extensions); a human then assigns the reversal tier and the verdict. Orders awaiting review are marked unrated. The tiers reflect actual administrative law: revocation by signature, guidance rewrites, and APA notice-and-comment respectively.

Full methodology →