President-elect Donald Trump’s first term is expected to start with a flurry of executive orders, starting shortly after he’s sworn in.

Exactly what those orders will contain is hard to know for sure right now. But executive orders — policy proclamations issued by the president under their executive authority — will likely be a powerful tool through which Trump can quickly and unilaterally enact key parts of his agenda.

That’s because executive orders can help him circumvent Congress, where Republicans currently have the narrowest majority in the House in 100 years and they still need at least seven Democrats to pass most legislation in the Senate. There are limits to what he can accomplish via executive order, and some of his agenda requires legislation to implement, especially if it demands new appropriations (which Congress controls). But just as in his first term, Trump can quickly undo major pillars of his predecessor’s legacy via executive order as he has promised.

Executive orders played a key role in the chaotic start to Trump’s first term eight years ago, which began with several high-profile executive orders, including a travel ban on citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries and the withdrawal from a major multilateral trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Many of these efforts were challenged in court by Democratic states and left-wing advocates, often successfully. Trump did win several of these battles, however, sometimes expanding the bounds of presidential power.

It’s not yet clear what Trump will try to do this time — or if courts will react the same way. But looking back could help understand what’s........

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