Sam Stein writes a bit about John Podesta's view of getting things done quickly via regulations and executive orders. Here's a bit from the, er, director's cut of my recent Podesta profile (translated: chopped during editing):
Near the end of Clinton’s second term, Podesta devised a plan to advance stalled elements of the president’s agenda: Rather than battle a hostile GOP Congress over legislation, Podesta proposed a series of executive orders and changes to federal rules that wouldn’t require Republican cooperation. The move was dubbed “Project Podesta .” One conservative publication fumed that this constituted nothing less than an “abuse of power.”
Of course, Republicans don't have nearly the power they did in the late 1990s to block a Democratic president's agenda. But it's another sign that Podesta thinks creatively about such things.
("Project Podesta" was first reported in November 1999 by US News & World Report in a story I can't find online.)
--Michael Crowley