After the Democrats lost the Senate in 2014, President Obama famously remarked that he would use “the pen and the phone” to continue to make policy. The remark was widely derided by critics of the President as evidence of his overuse of regulation to advance his aims and his desire to use his personal charisma to mobilize his supporters to pressure Congress.

Well now President Trump Donald John TrumpOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Pelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare Trump mocks Biden appearance, mask use ahead of first debate MORE has similarly lost control of the House of Representatives. In addition to the threat Democratic control of the House presents in terms of investigations of the executive branch, it also is likely to hobble his policy goals (limited as they may be). There won’t be a wall. Work requirements for SNAP will not get through a Democratic House. At most, there might be an infrastructure bill (prescription drug pricing reform is also possible but is likely to be stifled in the Republican Senate).

So where does that leave the President? With the pen and the phone.

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Those who opposed policy-making in the executive branch will have to either continue to decry presidential overreach or adjust their preferences. Even if they do learn to stop worrying and to love the pen and phone, they may find themselves disappointed.

The disappointment will arise from the fact that the Trump Administration is likely to be much less adept at achieving its policy goals through regulation. The President has repeatedly trumpeted his deregulatory accomplishments, particularly the elimination of regulations. But these claims have been largely debunked.

The Trump Administration has weakened enforcement of existing regulations particularly those related to the environment and finance, but changes in enforcement policy are short lived and can be easily reversed by the next administration. In order to change policy over the longer run (given Democratic control of the House), the administration is going to have to figure out how to successfully deregulate.

And every sign indicates that while the Obama Administration was extremely adept at using the “pen” to regulate, the Trump Administration does not appear to have the same capacity to use it to deregulate. Recent work has shown that the Trump Administration has an abysmal 1-18 win-loss record defending its attempts to deregulate in courts. This is likely because the Trump Administration has thus far rushed its deregulatory efforts, skirting legal requirements.

That leaves the phone as a potential means for Trump to set policy.

Can he convince outside constituencies to pressure Congress to pass statutes to his liking? He certainly has a different style than his predecessors, primarily using large rallies and prolific tweets. Both mobilize his most devoted supporters. That may be enough to convince Republican senators and representatives in districts that heavily support the president to toe his line out of fear of primary challenges, but it is unlikely to pressure House Democrats to cooperate (much as Obama was unable to convince Senate Republicans to support much of his agenda).

The pen and the phone can be powerful tools in the hands of a president who is adept at using them. Theoretically, the same could be said for a Twitter account.

But everything I’ve have seen from this administration leads me to believe that achieving their policy goals with the pen and the tweet may be out of their reach.

Stuart Shapiro is professor and director of the Public Policy Program at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, and a member of the Scholars Strategy Network. Follow him on Twitter @shapiro_stuart.