One of the 78 Biden-era executive orders that Trump rescinded on Monday at the Capital One Arena via executive order had called upon federal agencies to promote voter registration efforts.
NPR’s Hansi Lo Wong reports:
“The move comes after Republican officials ramped up efforts to turn the 2021 order into a partisan flash point ahead of the 2024 election.
GOP officials claimed — with no substantial evidence — that through this order, the Biden administration overstepped its authority and tried to generate more Democratic voters.
Federal laws, however, ban federal employees from favoring one political party over another when promoting voter registration. And the now-rescinded order covered longstanding federal agencies’ voter registration efforts that are authorized under federal laws — including the State and Defense Departments helping eligible military members and other U.S. citizens living abroad vote.
Biden’s order led to new voter registration guides, mailers, updated websites and programs such as Veteran Affairs facilities in Kentucky and Michigan distributing and helping eligible voters fill out registration forms.”
Full List of Donald Trump’s Executive Orders Signed on Inauguration Day
resident Donald Trump signed a flurry of executive orders and other presidential actions on Monday, fulfilling a campaign promise to enact a sweeping conservative agenda upon his return to the White House.
Among other things, the president withdrew from the landmark Paris Agreement, rescinded 78 Biden-era executive actions and implemented a federal hiring freeze.
He also signed several immigration-related executive orders, issued orders curbing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, announced upcoming tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and issued pardons to more than 1,500 people convicted of crimes related to the deadly January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
Trump signed his first few executive orders before the inaugural luncheon Monday afternoon. The orders appointed dozens of Cabinet-level officials and acting officials across the government, pending Senate confirmation of Trump’s Cabinet nominees. Officials who were appointed in acting capacities via executive orders include:
- James McHenry as acting attorney general.
- Robert Salesses as acting Secretary of Defense.
- Dorothy Fink as acting Secretary of Health and Human Services.
- Benjamine Huffman as acting Secretary of Homeland Security.
- Mark Averill as acting Secretary of the Army.
- Tom Sylvester as acting CIA director.
- Mark Uyeda as acting chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
- Andrew Ferguson as chairman of the Federal Trade Commission.
Trump officials also immediately shut down a Biden-era Customs and Border Protection app that allowed migrants to apply to legally enter the U.S. by seeking asylum.
Trump signed a number of other executive actions at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., where he addressed supporters in the late afternoon. The actions he signed included:
- The rescission of 78 Biden-era executive orders, actions and memoranda.
- A regulatory freeze preventing bureaucrats from issuing any more regulations until “we have full control” of the government.
- A freeze on all federal hiring except in the military and a number of other excluded categories.
- A requirement that federal workers return to full-time, in-person work.
- Directing agencies to address Americans’ cost-of-living “crisis.”
- Withdrawing from the Paris Agreement and informing the United Nations of the U.S.’s withdrawal from the landmark climate treaty.
- A directive to the federal government “ordering the restoration of freedom of speech and preventing government censorship of free speech going forward.”
- A directive to the federal government “ending the weaponization of government against the political adversaries of the previous administration, as we’ve seen.”
Trump then headed to the White House, where one of the first things he did was pardon more than 1,500 people convicted in connection to the deadly January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
Many of Trump’s campaign promises may be able to be implemented by executive order, but others will require support from Congress.
Republicans have a majority in the House and Senate, but their slim House majority and the existence of the Senate filibuster mean Trump will need cooperation from at least some Democratic lawmakers to pass parts of his agenda.
Many of these orders are likely to face legal challenges over the coming months, as liberal groups and watchdog organizations have pledged to sue the Trump administration over some of the president’s campaign pledges.
Follow updates on Trump’s executive orders here.
Immigration
Trump signed an executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship. The order will almost certainly face legal challenges, since birthright citizenship is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.
He also signed an order designating Mexican drug cartels and some other organizations to be foreign terrorist organizations.
He also declared a national emergency at the southern border, allowing him to use federal funding to construct a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border without congressional approval.
“That’s a big one,” Trump said while signing the order. “People have wanted to do this for years.”
He also reinstated the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which required asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while their cases go through courts in the U.S. And he suspended the Refugee Admission Program “until such time as the further entry into the United States of refugees aligns with the interests of the United States.”
Immigration, Trump’s signature issue, will be a focal point of several executive orders, especially his first few weeks in office. He promised mass deportations starting the first day of his administration, though these efforts are also likely to be challenged in court.
Climate and Drilling
The president signed a number of executive orders withdrawing the United States from key agreements and agencies.
“I’m immediately withdrawing from the one-sided Paris Climate Accord ripoff,” Trump said Monday at the Capital One Arena. “The United States will not sabotage our own industries while China pollutes with impunity.”
He also withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization, which will deprive the organization of millions of dollars in funding.
Trump issued another order declaring a “national energy emergency,” which could allow him to unilaterally bypass certain environmental regulations.
Tariffs and Taxes
Trump fulfilled his campaign promise to impose steep tariffs on countries like Canada and Mexico, saying that as of February 1, there will be a 25 percent tariff on imports from both countries.
He also signed an executive order saying that a global minimum corporate tax deal supported by the Biden administration and negotiated with over 100 countries has “no force or effect” in the U.S. without an act of Congress.
Trump signed a pair of executive orders to boost oil and gas drilling. One order seeks to drill in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and National Petroleum Reserve.
The second orders a review of policies that “burden the development of domestic energy resources,” and eliminates the Biden-era “‘electric vehicle (EV) mandate.'”.
TikTok
On the social media front, the president signed an executive order extending the deadline for TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest from the app, just one day after a law requiring its ban took effect.
The app went offline for a few hours in the U.S. on Sunday but became available again after the company announced that it believed Trump would block the ban from taking effect. Trump’s executive order gave ByteDance an additional 90 days to divest from TikTok to avoid a ban on the app.
Transgender Rights and DEI Efforts
The president also signed an executive order that could significantly curtail transgender rights, which Trump and Republicans made a focal point of their campaigns.
In one executive order, Trump said his administration will use “clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male.”
“It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female,” the executive order said. “These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”
The president also signed an executive order gutting federal programs aimed at improving diversity, equity and inclusion in the workforce, describing them as “wasteful,” “illegal and immoral.”
Trump directed the White House budget office and the Justice Department to “coordinate the termination of all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear.”
The executive order marks a massive victory for conservative and right-wing activists, who have argued that DEI programs unfairly discriminate against those who are deserving of certain jobs and school placements. Advocates of DEI policies, meanwhile, argue that having a diverse and inclusive environment helps attract more talent, fosters creativity and enhances overall performance.
Renaming The Gulf of Mexico and Other ‘America First’ Priorities
The 47th president signed an order renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
He also reverted the name of Mount Denali, the highest mountain in North America, to Mount McKinley. The peak was called Mount McKinley until then-President Barack Obama changed it in 2015 to Denali, the traditional Athabascan name, in all federal documents.
Trump made these changes to “honor American greatness,” the executive order said.
The president also signed an order directing the secretary of state to “champion core American interests and always put America and American citizens first.”
In another executive action, Trump ordered agencies responsible for the U.S.’s foreign development assistance programs to “immediately pause new obligations and disbursements of development assistance funds” pending reviews of the programs, which must be conducted within 90 days.
“It is the policy of United States that no further United States foreign assistance shall be disbursed in a manner that is not fully aligned with the foreign policy of the President of the United States,” the order said.
Creating ‘DOGE’
Trump officially created the long-anticipated Department of Government Efficiency on Monday evening. He did so by changing the name of the United States Digital Service—created in 2014 by Obama—to the “United States DOGE Service.”
DOGE will “oversee a substantial reduction in the size and scope of government” and operate “within the” US government, Semafor reported earlier, citing a fact sheet it had viewed.
Trump announced the creation of DOGE shortly after winning the 2024 election. The department will be led by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
According to Semafor, “DOGE will work with the Office of Management and Budget and all agencies to shrink the federal workforce, federal spending, and federal regulatory burdens.”
But the president faces an uphill battle to creating the new department, as evidenced by a lawsuit filed minutes after he was inaugurated, alleging that DOGE violates federal transparency rules.
Security Clearances
Trump signed two executive actions relating to security clearances.
One would allow White House staffers to obtain top secret security clearances without having to go through the traditional vetting process.
The other revokes security clearances for 50 people who signed a letter saying that a news story about Hunter Biden’s laptop was part of a Russian disinformation campaign.
Flags on Inauguration Day
Trump issued a proclamation ordering that all U.S. flags be flown at full-staff on “this and all future Inauguration Days.”
The action came after Trump publicly complained that flags would be flown at half-staff during his inauguration to pay tribute to late President Jimmy Carter, who died on December 29 at his home in Georgia.
“In any event, because of the death of President Jimmy Carter, the Flag may, for the first time ever during an Inauguration of a future President, be at half mast,” Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier this month. “Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it.”
It is customary for flags to fly at half-staff for 30 days after the death of a president or former president.
How Many Executive Orders Did Trump Sign During His First Week in 2017?
Trump allies have signaled that he could sign up to 100 executive orders on his first day in office, which would be the highest number any president has signed on their first day.
Up until the last few decades, presidents typically signed few or no executive orders in their first week or day in office.
Trump signed one order on Inauguration Day 2017 and four others in the week that followed.
Biden signed 24 orders from January 20 to January 27, 2021. Former President Barack Obama signed five in his first week, and previous presidents signed fewer orders upon taking office.
Trump says he’ll roll back Biden executive actions, freeze government hiring
“I will implement an immediate regulation freeze, which will stop Biden bureaucrats from continuing to regulate,” Trump went on, adding he will also “issue a temporary hiring freeze to ensure that we’re only hiring competent people who are faithful to the American public.”
In an executive order issued late on Monday, the White House said that within 120 days of the order, government officials will develop and send to agency heads a federal hiring plan that will “restore merit to government service.”
The announcements – which had been telegraphed for months – are one of many efforts to gut the federal workforce and kneecap the previous administration’s efforts.
Earlier on Monday, Trump officially announced the creation of an advisory group aimed at carrying out sweeping cuts to the U.S. government and wholesale cancellations of government agencies, a move that attracted immediate lawsuits challenging its operations.
The government hiring freeze is being paired with a return-to-office order which would see many government teleworkers forced to commute to work five days a week.
Experts say the new restrictions on hiring, flexible work, and the pressures around cost-cutting will drive exasperated federal workers out of government.
Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab CEO Elon Musk – who chairs Trump’s advisory body on shrinking government – recently predicted that revoking “the COVID-era privilege” of telework would trigger “a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome.”
Among the Biden-era actions that were being rescinded included Biden’s executive order concerning risks of artificial intelligence technologies. Other actions which the Trump administration said it was rolling back, opens new tab included executive orders to do with climate change, fighting health threats, and lowering prescription drug costs.
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