Trump's Executive Power: What Has Been Signed So Far?
As the U.S. began to settle in after a lengthy year-and-a-half long political season, President Donald Trump officially took the reigns as Commander-in-Chief on 20 January 2017. As pledged during his presidential campaign, Trump has begun his running start on his one-hundred-day plan of sweeping changes to all aspects of American life, from the government’s role in healthcare to U.S. immigration policy.
In the first week of the new administration, President Trump has signed numerous executive orders into law as well as numerous memoranda, which are typically used to outline the goals of the presidential administration. Many of these orders come as a result of Trump’s promises throughout the campaign trail.
Though many of his pledges will need to be brought before Congress, Trump also has the power to make demands of the departments within the executive branch of the federal government. These rules, known as executive orders, have been issued by every president since George Washington. This power, outlined in Article Two of the U.S. Constitution, allows President Trump to make these decisions by granting him executive power, or the ability to order the law without the approval of Congress.
Day 1: Donald Trump issued his first executive order, aimed at repealing Obamacare and the Affordable Care Act. Although this order doesn’t directly change the laws, Trump’s order directs the department heads in the executive branch to interpret Obamacare and ACA regulations as loosely as possible in an attempt to relieve the supposed financial burden of lower and middle-class Americans.
Trump also signed an order blocking President Obama’s plan to cut mortgage fees for people borrowing money from the Federal Housing Administration. According to the National Association of Realtors, Trump’s move has the potential to cause high premium spikes for up to 850,000 homeowners.
Day 3: Trump issued a presidential memorandum regarding the U.S.’s formal resignation from the TPP, or the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an agreement signed by the U.S. and Pacific Rim countries to encourage free trade. This resignation came after years of opposition from both Democrats and Republicans. With the signing of this order, Trump also announced intentions of meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to discuss and negotiate the terms of NAFTA, or the North-American Free Trade Agreement, another free trade deal that has been deemed harmful to the U.S. economy by many.
Trump also issued two other memoranda: the first reinstating the Mexico City Policy, preventing the U.S. from providing financial aid to international groups that provide abortion services, and the second freezing the hiring of any federal employees apart from the military.
Day 4: President Trump issued two memoranda related to the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline, revitalizing the projects and requiring their planning to take less time. Both pipelines were halted after numerous protests by environmentalists and eco-friendly politicians but were revived by President Trump. Trump also signed several other memoranda, one of which suggesting that all future pipelines be built using American-made materials.
Day 6: Two executive orders were signed, the first of which instructs the Department of Homeland Security to begin immediate construction of a border wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. The source of funding for the wall is currently undecided, but President Trump strongly suggests that the wall will be paid for by Mexico. Although not included in the final release of the border wall order, Trump has floated the idea of paying for the wall through a 20% import tax on Mexican goods. This order also calls for the hiring of 5,000 new border patrol guards.
The second executive order signed on day six calls for immediate deportation of undocumented immigrants and the hiring of 10,000 additional border security officers. This order also reserves the power of the federal government to punish sanctuary cities, areas that harbor illegal immigrants, that refuse to turn over undocumented individuals by cutting federal funding.
Day 9: Trump signed another order on day nine that consists of guidelines on lobbying, or influencing public policy, for individuals in his administration. These regulations rule that those in his administration are permanently banned from lobbying for any foreign governments and have a five-year restriction on any other lobbying. This comes according to Trump’s campaign promise of “draining the swamp” in Washington.
Based on the current rhetoric and tone of the presidential administration and their interactions with the media and the public, there is undoubtedly more executive legislature on the way, and based on Trump’s past iterations, there is a strong possibility of more controversial content to come.
