Tuesday, January 21, 2025

the slew of executive orders

Day One. The Epoch Times has an article on some salient points about the slew of executive orders (more than 200) Trump is signing. The orders range far and wide. Whether stubborn, stupid resistors follow those orders is also in question.

Headline:

Trump’s Day 1 Executive Orders
Trump began signing a stack of executive orders following [his] Capitol One Arena speech before issuing more upon reaching the Oval Office.

And here's a list of the article's highlights:

Immigration and Border

  • A proclamation declaring that “an invasion is ongoing at the southern border,” guaranteeing states’ protection against such invasion, and invoking executive powers related to the surge of illegal immigration.
  • An executive order entitled “Protecting the American People Against Invasion,” in response to “the unprecedented admission of illegal aliens” at the southern border.
  • Ordering the securing of the southern border by various methods, including building a border wall and ending the CBP One app.
  • A declaration of a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border.
  • A realignment of the U.S. Refugee Admission Program “to better align with American principles and American interests.”
  • An executive order ending birthright citizenship.
  • Restoration of the death penalty for the killing of federal agents or law enforcement.
  • Declaring cartels as terrorist organizations.
  • Protections from foreign terrorists and other national security and public safety threats related to the southern border.

Federal Workers

  • An order to reform hiring in the federal government based on merit.
  • A change in policy to make it easier to fire poor performers among the federal workforce.
  • An order to hold former government officials accountable for election interference and unlawful disclosure of sensitive information, referring to the national security officials who co-signed a letter suggesting Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation.
  • A memorandum to ensure career senior executive service officials in the federal government implement the president’s agenda or they are removed.
  • A regulatory freeze to prevent bureaucrats from issuing any more regulations until the administration has full control of the government.
  • A federal hiring freeze, except for the military and other exempted categories, until the new administration takes control and the government’s objectives are understood.
  • A requirement for all federal employees to return to full-time in-person work immediately.

Gender and DEI

  • A federal policy that defines male and female as the only two genders.
  • An executive order ending diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and policies in the federal government.

Energy and the Environment

  • An executive order to maximize development and production of natural resources in Alaska to make the state a resource reservoir for the nation to ramp up fossil fuel extraction.
  • The declaration of a national energy emergency.
  • An order unleashing energy production, easing the permitting processes and other regulatory systems to ensure efficient energy production.
  • A memorandum to improve Southern California’s water access by routing “more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to other parts of the state” for use in wildfire mitigation.
  • A temporary withdrawal of all offshore wind leasing and an order to review government leasing and permitting practices for wind-power projects.
  • An official withdrawal of the Paris Climate Accord, which Trump’s team said would save the United States $1 trillion.
  • A formal notice to be sent to the United Nations saying that the United States will put “America First” in international environmental agreements, including the Paris Climate Accord, while also directing the federal government to do the same.

Military and National Security

  • An order to reevaluate and realign U.S. foreign aid.
  • An order asking the Department of Defense to come up with plans to protect the United States’ territorial integrity and sovereignty by targeting drug trafficking, human trafficking, illegal immigration, and other criminal activities.
  • A memorandum to immediately grant 6-month interim security clearance to certain personnel hired by the Trump administration so that they can access the White House regardless of a clearance backlog Trump said was left from the Biden administration.
  • An “America-First Policy Directive to the Secretary of State” to champion American-focused interests in foreign policy.
  • An order defining “Organization of the National Security Council and Subcommittees.”

Taxes and Tariffs

  • Creating an “America First Trade Policy” that prioritizes American workers and companies while also establishing an “External Revenue Service (ERS) to collect tariffs, duties, and other foreign trade-related revenues.”
  • A memorandum declaring the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) Global Tax Deal has no force or effect in the United States.

Federal Government Changes

  • Creation of a presidential advisory commission called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
  • The undoing of 78 of former President Joe Biden’s executive actions, executive orders, and presidential memoranda.
  • A directive for every federal government department and agency to address the cost of living crisis.
  • A government-wide directive to prevent government censorship against free speech.
  • A directive for the federal government to end the “weaponization of government” against “the political adversaries of the previous administration.”

Other Executive Actions

  • Giving social media platform TikTok 75 days to find a U.S.-based buyer before facing a federal ban.
  • A full pardon for roughly 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants and 14 commutations for prisoners.
  • The withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO), after Trump did so previously in 2020.
  • A Martin Luther King, Jr. Day proclamation.
  • A memorandum “Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture.”
  • An executive order restoring the name Mt. McKinley after President Barack Obama renamed it Mt. Denali in 2015, and changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
Could innocent people get caught in the net of the above executive orders? Of course. Happens all the time with any law, decree, or proclamation. And the left can be guaranteed to take any small problem, inflate it to monstrous size, rip it from context, and jabber vociferously about How This Proves Trump and MAGA Are Evil. So ignore all the noise coming from the left (they're already accusing Elon Musk of executing a Nazi salute) and concentrate on the net effect of these new orders/policies on the health and happiness of the country. Will Trump make mistakes? Sure. Will bad actors in positions of power try to undermine Trump's administration from within? Judases abound. Will some of his appointees, despite being more competent and less ass-kissing than the previous batch, disappoint him and us in some way? You bet. But all in all, I'm thinking that Round 2, with a slightly less arrogant and more aware Trump, might end up even better than Round 1. Watch gas prices, grocery prices, inflation rates, the number of major wars, the number of released felons who commit crimes again, and all the other important markers.

On the darker side, watch whether Trump does anything important about North Korea this time, or about the US national debt, which no US president has been serious about for decades. See whether he's really serious about "Manifest Destiny 2.0" and truly wants to acquire Greenland and the Panama Canal. Do hold his feet to the fire about his promises and aspirations, but do so on the terms he's given, not on your own wild-eyed, schizophrenic, over-the-cliff, distorted, hyperventilating, leftist terms. Judge Trump according to Trump. And remember: watch his actions, don't listen to his words. That way lies wisdom.


1 comment:

  1. I like it so far! My indoctrinated nephew Justin posted some meme about the "Nazi salute" so I went and watched the video. He puts his hand on his chest, throws out his arm, and says, "My heart goes out to you." Pathetic. If that's the best they've got, we're going to be fine.

    ReplyDelete

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