The dazzling array of executive actions President Donald Trump issued Monday, the first day of his second term, shows he’s willing to push the envelope by challenging both laws and regulations in an effort to get government to do what he wants it to do.
His pardon of the January 6 rioters was far greater than many had predicted. His immigration actions went much further than in his first term, in some ways that seem blatantly illegal. And he laid the groundwork for kicking out many federal government employees who he thought might get in his way.
Other actions raise more questions than they answer. Trump has held off on his promised tariffs until February and has mostly avoided weighing in on major foreign policy hotspots. And it’s still very unclear what, exactly, is going on with Elon Musk’s DOGE.
But we arguably got a lot more insight into what Trump’s second term will bring on his first day than last year. He’s running into some conflicts — holding back on others for now. Here’s what we learned.
1) The January 6 pardon was extraordinarily extreme
Just a week ago, the soon-to-be Vice President Commented by JD Vance Nonviolent intruders who entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, were prosecuted, should be pardoned — but the violent rioters of that day “shouldn’t be.”
Trump had other ideas when he issued his sweeping pardon for those he “J6 hostage” He singled out 14 members of two far-right groups, the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, who had been convicted of treasonous conspiracy, having their sentences commuted rather than given a full pardon. But “all other individuals have been convicted of crimes related to the Capitol riots that day. ” Received a full unconditional pardon – including those who assaulted police officers and the leader of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tario.
Trump, it has always been clear, was “delighted” by storming the Capitol on January 6; He doesn’t care that his supporters have assaulted police, terrorized members of Congress, and threatened to hang his own vice president. What mattered to him was that they were his supporters. So he gave them a get-out-of-jail-free card, even those who tried to violently overthrow democracy.
2) It’s Stephen Miller’s America Now
Trump’s first day’s executive orders were among the most numerous and detailed on immigration. The president revived previous hard-line administration policies, such as suspending refugee admissions, ordering deportations and building a border wall. He also rolled back some Biden policies that would have allowed more immigrants to come legally if they followed an orderly process, ending Biden’s. “Parole” program And closing An app has been developed to schedule appointments for immigrants to request asylum.
But on some fronts, Trump’s orders have already gone further than his first term and have shown a bold new willingness to defy legal warnings. For example:
- he order That the US military will now be responsible for the “mission” of closing the border.
- He used a public health emergency argument To stop the asylum system Although there is no public health crisis at the moment.
- He ordered that federal prosecutor Recommend the death penalty For any unauthorized immigrant convicted of a capital offense.
- he fired Many top officials in the US immigration court system, including the acting head of the system.
- and he announced Despite what the Constitution says, birthright citizenship no longer applies to children born in the United States to unauthorized immigrants or visa-holders (unless one parent is a US citizen or lawful permanent resident).
Much of this is likely to be the subject of litigation, with birthright citizenship orders generally considered unlikely to withstand court scrutiny ( The ACLU has already filed suit above). And all of this has the fingerprints of Stephen Miller, the anti-immigrant hardliner who now once again wields enormous power as deputy White House chief of staff and homeland security adviser.
Trump and Miller likely consider aggressive and seemingly illegal policies like the birthright mandate to be worth a shot and have some effect in deterring future immigrants even if they end up being hurt. What’s clear is that Trump’s team isn’t asking for permission to pursue overtly restrictive policies — they’re going as hard as they can get out of the gate.
3) Foundations were laid for a civil service purge
Trump though Some federal employees are fired On Monday, the first day federal officials didn’t think of a mass shooting, but the groundwork was laid for something like that to happen in the future.
First Trump recovery What was previously known as his “Schedule F” executive order, issued shortly before he left office in late 2020 (it was never actually implemented and Biden soon rescinded it). The idea behind Schedule F — now rebranded as “Schedule Policy/Careers” — is to reclassify various key civil servant jobs as exempt from civil service hiring rules and protections, making it easier to fire those workers.
Second, Trump took aim In part of the federal workforce known as the Senior Executive Service (SES). These are, in essence, top jobs in civil service agencies that interact with political appointees to run things. Trump’s order demanded plans from his agencies to make the SES more “accountable” (easier to enforce). His order also states that recruitment to SES jobs will now be done by panels made up mostly of political appointees, instead of government employees as is the case at present.
Third, Personnel Management Office issued a memo Allows agencies to make unlimited “Schedule C” hires — another category of political appointees who do not go through the Civil Service hiring process. And fourth, another order Trump ordered recruiters Come up with a plan to reform the civil service recruitment process itself.
Overall, it shows Trump’s people’s intense focus on resting agency authority away from public servants and toward a larger number of political appointees — and even if there hasn’t been a mass shooting, it may only be a matter of time.
4) A DOGE can hide in sheep’s clothing
Since Trump announced that he will appoint Elon Musk to chair a new “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), it’s unclear exactly what this supposed new department will be or how it will function.
This was stated in an order of Trump on Monday Unexpected announcement That, in fact, an existing part of the executive branch — the US Digital Service, established during the Obama administration to modernize government IT — will become the US DOGE service.
Now, this executive order creates a surprisingly limited mission to “modernize federal technology and software,” without ending DOGE’s previously announced overhaul of government spending, regulations, and personnel. Liberals on social media flocked to Musk’s apparent humiliation.
I would not be so sure about that. Report On Musk’s planand public statements from contact persons with his teamSuggesting that they plan to go really big, in ways that have yet to be revealed. With a new report that has the potential to get musk A West Wing officeIt is hard to believe that he has left behind his great ambitions.
5) Trump wants to reshape the US energy industry
Trump has long pledged to fight climate change and push back on Biden’s efforts to produce fossil fuels, so it’s no surprise that he withdrawal From the Paris Climate Agreement, gave the green light Drilling in AlaskaAnd Tried to get the funds back For Green Energy Projects in Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. Did sadhana too His long-standing vendetta With an injunction against the wind energy industry to stop All wind energy permits are for projects on federal lands and oceans.
Yet Trump’s “Manifest American power“The executive order took another major policy step — it aggressively targeted the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a longtime bugaboo of Republicans and even some Democrats, who see it as a major reason why it’s become so difficult to get things done. The U.S.
In theory, NEPA requires the government to consider the environmental impact of projects; in practice, Critical reasoningIts complex process makes projects more time-consuming and bogs them down with delays. Trump’s order proposes to take NEPA enforcement out of the hands of the Council on Environmental Quality, repeal existing rules about it, and introduce a new and more streamlined process for how to apply the law and simplify permitting.
6) Lots TBD left
With Trump doing so much in his first day, it’s also interesting to read the tea leaves about what he didn’t do.
In economic policy, he issued a Short, unambiguous commands Directed agencies to try to reduce cost of living and he signed A trade order There were lots of phrases like “review it” and “investigate its feasibility”. But he did not issue the tariffs he had promised on Canada and Mexico (at a press conference, he Set a new deadline 1 February for this). Translation: His tariff policies aren’t yet ready for prime time and are likely still the subject of bickering among his economic advisers about how comprehensive they should be.
On foreign policy, too, Trump has issued a brief and vague “America First Policy Guidelines” confirmed his first Cabinet appointment, Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He also declared that Stop foreign aid and for 90 days nominated Latin American drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. But he has done little about the rest of the world, not announcing any big day Pne on Ukraine, Israel or China, for example.
We shouldn’t read too much into this omission — perhaps Trump is waiting until his party is confirmed. But, significantly, these are the two areas where his coalition is truly torn – between tariff superfans and skeptics who fear economic disruption, and between internationalists and isolationists. To know what Trump will do about it, we will have to wait a little longer.
