US President Donald Trump is expected to sign as many as 100 executive orders soon after taking office, declaring the “golden age of America begins right now”.
As the presidential inauguration takes place Tuesday morning, Trump has already signed some of the orders within the Capital One Arena, where he spoke to a crowd of his supporters.
The first order he signed revoked approximately 80 executive actions that had been signed by former President Joe Biden, including a freeze on new regulations and a hiring freeze on federal workers. Following this, Trump threw the pen he used into the crowd.
“It […] underscores how much the new president combines wrestling-style theatrics with governing,” reports White House correspondent for The New York Times, Maggie Haberman.
An executive order is a directive by the US president that manages operations of the federal government. The orders allow the president to wield power without action from Congress, with limits still in place for what the orders can do.
While it’s standard practice for new US presidents to sign executive orders upon being inaugurated, the number and scope of orders Trump is planning to sign will be record-breaking.
Trump’s executive orders are expected to reset government policy on issues ranging from immigration enforcement to diversity initiatives to environmental regulation, with many of them aiming to undo Joe Biden’s presidential legacy.
Trump also promised to issue pardons for members of the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Energy and climate
In relation to climate change, Trump signed an order withdrawing the US from the Paris Agreement, the world’s main climate pact. It’s the second time he’s done so, having also withdrawn during his first presidential term.
Trump has also promised to immediately declare a national energy emergency, promising to fill up strategic oil reserves and export US energy globally.
“We will be a rich nation again, and it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it,” Trump said.
“With my actions today, we will end the Green New Deal, and we will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry and keeping my sacred pledge to our great American auto workers.”
Gender rights
Within his inaugural speech, Trump stated that “there are only two genders: male and female”, vowing to end transgender rights in the US military and in US schools.
Earlier, The Trump administration had announced plans to release an executive order resetting federal policy on what is considered an accepted gender.
Removing “nonbinary and “other” options from federal documents is one way that the administration plans to do this, according to an incoming official.
Trump’s executive actions on gender are also expected to rescind 2023 Biden administration policies related to the treatment of transgender individuals in the federal workplace.
“No longer will the federal government be promoting gender ideology,” the incoming administration officials told reporters.
Diversity, equity and inclusion
Trump signed an executive order Monday morning to remove diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within the federal government.
“We will forge a society that is colour blind and merit-based,” Trump said in his inaugural address.
Trump’s efforts to eradicate DEI will be an ongoing effort, with Trump officials and members of the Department of Justice planning to meet monthly with different agencies to evaluate how DEI programs are allegedly discriminating against Americans.
The impacts of Trump’s efforts to end DEI in federal workplaces will be felt widely, as the US government is the largest employer in the country, with nearly 3 million workers.
Coincidentally, Trump’s inauguration has also fallen on the same day as Martin Luther King Junior Day– an official day in the US celebrating the renowned civil rights leader.
Speaking to the effect of this, Bernice A. King, MLK’s youngest child, said she is glad Trump’s inauguration “occurred on that day because it gives the United States of America and the world the contrasting pictures.”
“We must pay attention to what President-Elect Trump speaks on that day,” King had said in an earlier Instagram post.
“We cannot develop a strategic, love-centered strategy for addressing language and legislation if we are not also strategic in our listening and leadership. This is not the time for ignorance.”