By Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Michael D. Shear and Noah Weiland
This week, President Donald Trump unleashed a series of executive orders, marking the start of his presidency with a robust application of authority designed to indicate a decisive shift from current policies concerning immigration, the environment, and diversity programs.
The series of executive actions aimed to undo numerous significant domestic measures from President Joe Biden, particularly those related to climate and immigration, while reintroducing a Trump-centric agenda that emphasizes drilling and mining of natural resources and fundamentally alters the U.S.’s global stance as a refuge for immigrants and refugees.
In a speech delivered on Monday evening, Trump announced that he was revoking nearly 80 “disruptive, radical executive actions of the former administration.”
Included among the revoked Biden orders were directives instructing federal agencies to revitalize the refugee program and progressively terminate the Justice Department’s reliance on private prisons.
Some of Trump’s orders are likely to face legal challenges, and others may mostly serve symbolic value. However, collectively, they reflect his desire to decisively deviate from the path of the Biden administration and fulfill his campaign pledges to dismantle what he and his advisors perceive as a “deep state” effort to obstruct his plans.
Here are a selection of the orders Trump authorized on his first day in office:
Federal Workforce
— Impose a freeze on federal hiring, with exceptions for military personnel or “positions related to immigration enforcement, national security, or public safety.”
— Reinstate a category of federal workers known as Schedule F, which would not enjoy the same job protections as career civil servants.
— Prevent new federal regulations from taking effect until they can be reviewed by Trump administration appointees.
— Examine the investigative actions of the Biden administration, “to rectify past misconduct by the federal government regarding the weaponization of law enforcement and intelligence.”
— Provide top secret security clearances to White House personnel without following standard vetting processes.
— End remote work policies and mandate a return to full-time office attendance for federal employees.
Immigration and the Border
— Prohibit asylum for individuals newly arriving at the southern border.
— Seek to eliminate birthright citizenship, guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, for children of immigrants who entered the U.S. unlawfully. As the president cannot unilaterally amend the Constitution, it remains uncertain how Trump intends to deny citizenship benefits to individuals born in the U.S.; any attempt is expected to be contested in court.
— Suspend the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program “until such time as the entry of refugees into the United States aligns with national interests.”
— Declare migrant crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border a national emergency, which permits Trump to access federal funds for border wall construction without Congressional approval, for enhanced enforcement initiatives.
— Reinstate a policy requiring asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their cases are evaluated by an immigration judge.
— Explore the possibility of designating cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations.”
Gender and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives
— Discontinue DEI programs throughout the federal government.
— Acknowledge only two genders: male and female.
— Withdraw protections for transgender individuals in federal correctional facilities.
Tariffs and Trade
— Instruct federal bodies to initiate an inquiry into trade practices, focusing on ongoing trade deficits and unfair currency practices, while also investigating the influx of migrants and drugs from Canada, China, and Mexico to the U.S.
— Evaluate China’s adherence to a trade agreement signed by Trump in 2020, as well as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which Trump enacted in 2020 to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement.
— Direct the government to explore the possibility of establishing an “External Revenue Service” to collect tariffs and duties.
— Conduct a comprehensive review of the U.S. industrial and manufacturing sectors to determine if additional national security tariffs are justified.
Energy and the Environment
— Withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, the international pact aimed at combating climate change.
— Proclaim a national energy emergency, a first in U.S. history, which could grant new powers to suspend certain environmental regulations or fast-track permits for specific mining operations.
— Attempt to overturn Biden’s ban on offshore drilling across 625 million acres of federal waters.
— Initiate the repeal of Biden-era regulations on tailpipe emissions from cars and light trucks, encouraging automakers to produce more electric vehicles.
— Roll back energy efficiency standards for dishwashers, shower heads, and gas stoves.
— Open up Alaska’s wilderness for increased oil and gas exploration.
— Reactivate reviews for new export terminals of liquefied natural gas, which the Biden administration had put on hold.
— Cease leasing federal waters for offshore wind energy projects.
— Abolish environmental justice initiatives throughout the government, which aim to safeguard underprivileged communities from excessive pollution.
— Review all federal regulations imposing an “undue burden” on the development or utilization of various energy sources, especially coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear, hydropower, and biofuels.
TikTok Ban
— Confer with federal agencies about any national security threats posed by the social media application, then “pursue a resolution that safeguards national security while preserving a platform utilized by 170 million Americans.” Trump instructed his attorney general not to enforce a statute banning the platform for 75 days to allow the Trump administration “time to decide on the suitable approach going forward.”
Other
— Withdraw from the World Health Organization.
— Rename Mount Denali and the Gulf of Mexico.
— Ensure that states conducting executions have a “sufficient supply” of lethal injection medications.
— Display the American flag at full staff on Monday and during future Inauguration Days.
— Establish the Department of Government Efficiency, the cost-reduction initiative led by Elon Musk.
— Revoke security clearances for 51 individuals who signed a letter claiming that the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop could be Russian disinformation.
