What firearms related laws has been kept secret? Kind of tough to have a secret law, isn't it?
If you are uninformed, yet have Internet access to make this post, its your fault. Even the executive orders and the requests for public input on them are freely available on the ATF's web site. There is a plethora of knowledgeable people here, folks used to dealing with the ATF as dealers and at least a hand full of lawyers, plus well versed laypeople who can point you in the right direction with any specific question.
The President has the authority to negotiate trade agreements, usually via the State Dept and Commerce Dept, and then Congress has the authority to approve or deny that trade agreement, but not change it. Clinton signed the VRA of 1996, not the ATF, and it certainly wasn't a secret.
One of the many reasons I still maintain Clinton was our worst president in living memory. He was way more damaging to our military readiness, gun owner's rights, and the simple respect for the rule of law by our leaders than any president in living memory.
For anyone who thinks that the feds, particularly the ATF can't make changes without legislation, have you tried buying a parts kit with a barrel lately? I seem to remember this being an administrative edict, not a legislated change.