(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump issued a flurry of executive orders and directives on Monday, seeking to give his new administration the stamp of approval on issues ranging from energy to criminal pardons to immigration.
Below are some of the major executive orders signed on President Trump’s first day in office.
pardon
President Trump pardoned approximately 1,500 people who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, offering full support to those who attacked police as they tried to prevent lawmakers from certifying defeat in the 2020 election. expressed.
“Frankly, I expect them to come out tonight,” Trump said. “We expect that.”
The far-reaching action also shortens the sentences of 14 members of the far-right groups Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, including several members convicted of seditious conspiracy.
The document also directs the U.S. Attorney General to dismiss pending lawsuits related to the riot.
immigration
President Trump has declared illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border a national emergency, designated criminal cartels as terrorist organizations, and aims to automatically grant citizenship to U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants. signed an order to do so.
President Trump’s order on U.S. refugee resettlement suspends the program for at least four months and orders a security review to determine whether travelers from certain countries are subject to a travel ban. officials said.
“The United States lacks the capacity to accept large numbers of immigrants,” the order said.
rescind Biden’s action
At a rally at a sports arena, President Trump rescinded 78 executive actions taken by the previous administration.
President Trump said he would “undo nearly 80 destructive and radical executive actions of the previous administration.”
Trump also said he would sign an order directing agencies to preserve all records related to “political persecution” under the Biden administration.
The revocation applies to former President Joe Biden’s executive orders from his first day in office in 2021 until last week, covering topics ranging from fighting the coronavirus to promoting clean energy industries.
diversity
President Trump also rescinded executive orders promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and advancing the rights of LGBTQ+ people and racial minorities, reducing protections for the most marginalized Americans. He fulfilled his promise to do so.
The 78 repealed executive orders signed by Biden include at least 12 measures supporting racial equality and combating discrimination against gays and transgender people.
Tik tok prohibited
President Trump signed an order extending a ban on the popular short video app TikTok, which was scheduled to shut down on January 19, for 75 days. The order directs the attorney general “not to enforce this law in order to give my administration the opportunity to set policy” and take appropriate action regarding TikTok. ”
Regulatory hiring freeze
In addition to an order freezing government hiring and new federal regulations, President Trump also signed an order requiring federal employees to immediately return to full-time, in-person work.
“I will immediately implement a regulatory freeze that will prevent the Biden bureaucracy from continuing to impose regulations,” Trump said, adding, “I will ensure that we only hire talented people who are loyal to the American people.” Therefore, we will also issue a temporary hiring freeze.” . ”
The move would force large numbers of white-collar government workers to abandon remote working arrangements, reversing a trend that began in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some of President Trump’s allies said the return-to-work mandate was intended to facilitate the evisceration of the civil service and make it easier for Trump to replace long-serving government employees with allies.
inflation
President Trump has ordered all executive branch departments to provide emergency price relief to Americans and increase prosperity for American workers. Measures include cutting cost-increasing regulations and climate policies, and prescribing measures to lower housing costs and expand housing supply.
“Over the past four years, the Biden Administration’s destructive policies have brought Americans a historic inflation crisis,” the executive order said.
climate
President Trump also signed the withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and submitted a letter to the United Nations explaining the withdrawal.
The announcement, widely anticipated since Trump won the Nov. 5 presidential election, further threatens the agreement’s central goal of avoiding a 1.5-degree rise in global temperatures, which The situation is expected to be even tougher than last year. Hottest on record on Earth.
“It is the policy of the administration to put the interests of the United States and its people first,” the executive order reads.
He rescinded Biden’s 2023 memo that banned oil drilling on about 16 million acres in the Arctic, said the government should encourage energy exploration and production in federal lands and waters, and said electric vehicles ( He also stated that the mandate for EVs has been abolished.
health
A separate order removed the United States from the World Health Organization, citing its mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic and other global health crises.
The plan, consistent with President Trump’s longstanding criticism of the U.N. health agency, would mark a dramatic shift in U.S. global health policy and further isolate Washington from international efforts to fight the pandemic.
President Trump has nominated several critics of the organization to lead public health departments, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic who is running for the post of secretary of Health and Human Services. F.D.A.
government efficiency
President Trump signed an executive order creating an advisory group called the Department of Government Efficiency aimed at enacting dramatic cuts in the U.S. government, triggering immediate lawsuits challenging its operations.
The group, known as DOGE, is run by Tesla (NASDAQ:) CEO Elon Musk and aims to eliminate entire federal agencies and cut three-quarters of federal jobs. He has ambitious goals.
Targeting the “Deep State”
The president signed a document “ending the weaponization” of the government against political opponents. The order directs the attorney general to investigate the activities of the federal government over the past four years, including the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal Trade Commission during the previous administration.
The administration said it would “take appropriate steps to identify and correct past misconduct by the federal government related to the weaponization of law enforcement and the weaponization of intelligence agencies.”
freedom of speech
President Trump signed an executive order that he says aims to “restore free speech and end federal censorship.”
“In the name of combating ‘misinformation,’ ‘disinformation,’ and ‘malice,’ the federal government has violated Americans’ constitutional right to speech,” the White House said in a statement.
President Trump and his Republican allies had accused the administration of former Democratic President Joe Biden of encouraging the suppression of free speech on online platforms.
energy
President Trump has declared a national energy emergency, vowed to reclaim the Strategic Oil Reserve and export American energy around the world.
He has laid out a sweeping plan to maximize U.S. oil and gas production, including declaring a national energy emergency, eliminating excessive regulations, and withdrawing the United States from international agreements to combat climate change. Ta.
President Trump said he expects the order will help lower consumer prices and improve U.S. national security. He also signed an order aimed at boosting oil and gas development in Alaska, reversing Mr. Biden’s efforts to protect vast tracts of land and waters in the Arctic from drilling.
The United States also plans to withdraw from the Paris climate change agreement and end leases to wind farms, according to the White House website. President Trump also said he would repeal what he called an electric vehicle mandate.
The move signals a dramatic shift in energy policy in Washington after Biden’s efforts to move away from fossil fuels and establish the United States as a leader in combating global warming. .
