How much do executive orders cost? No one knows

Crenshaw, the chairman of a House appropriations subcommittee that controls the White House budget, is trying to fix that. He inserted a provision into the spending bill passed by Congress last year, requiring OMB to issue a statement on the budgetary impact of each executive order.

But 10 executive orders later, Congress has no more insight into their cost. OMB has declared six to have a “de minimus,” or trivial, effect on costs or revenues, and four are expected to increase spending by an unknown amount.

For example, an executive order signed Thursday ordering agencies to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 40% — contains the same boilerplate language as the pay raise. “This executive order is not anticipated to increase discretionary obligations and outlays overall.”