January 21, 2025
US President Donald Trump issued an abundance of executive orders, starting off his presidency with a muscular use of power, which was intended to signal a sharp reversal from existing policies on issues that include immigration, the environment and diversity initiatives, reported The New York Times.
While also reimposing a Trump agenda that would launch drilling and mining on natural resources and fundamentally upend the United States’ global role as a sanctuary for refugees and immigrants, the flurry of executive actions was an effort to roll back of many President Joseph R Biden Jr’s most significant domestic policies, primarily on climate and immigration.
Trump said he was also revoking almost 80 “disruptive, radical executive actions of the previous administration” in a speech on Monday evening.
The revoked Biden orders included directives that the federal government rebuild the refugee programme, and gradually end the Justice Department’s use of private prisons.
It is important to note that some of Trump’s orders are almost certain to be challenged in court, and others will be largely symbolic.
However, taken together, they represent his intention to sharply turn away from the direction of the Biden administration. It is also to make good on his campaign promises to break what he and his aides cast as a “deep state” effort to thwart his agenda.
Following are some of the orders Trump signed on his first day in office:
The president directed to freeze federal hiring, except for members of the military or “positions related to immigration enforcement, national security, or public safety.”
He also ordered the restoration of a category of federal workers known as Schedule F, which would lack the same job protections enjoyed by career civil servants.
He said to bar asylum for people newly arriving at the southern border.
The president also backed the move to end birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, for the children of undocumented immigrants.
Gender and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives
He directed to terminate D.E.I. programmes across the federal government, recognise two sexes: male and female.
Moreover, also remove protections for transgender people in federal prisons.
Trump ordered to direct federal agencies to begin an investigation into trade practices, including persistent trade deficits and unfair currency practices, as well as examine flows of migrants and drugs from Canada, China and Mexico to the United States.
The Republican issued order to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, the pact among almost all nations to fight climate change.
Additionally, he directed to consult federal agencies on any national security risks posed by the social media platform, then “pursue a resolution that protects national security while saving a platform used by 170 million Americans.”