By Tim Reid and Jeff Mason
(Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump has signed a blizzard of executive orders and taken other actions since he was sworn in on Jan. 20 that are having a swift impact on Americans and the rest of the world.
The executive orders, which the White House said have totaled more than 300, aim to meet the Republican’s campaign promises on illegal immigration, the size of the federal workforce, energy and the environment, gender and diversity policies, abortion and the military.
The orders have the force of law but can be revoked by future presidents or blocked by courts.
Here are some of Trump’s early policy moves:
IMMIGRATION
Trump declared a national emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border and issued a broad ban on asylum for migrants “engaged in the invasion across the southern border.”
He instructed the Defense Department to make it a priority to seal the border and to support border wall construction, detention space and migrant transportation. He empowered the defense secretary to send troops to the border, and the White House announced that 1,500 additional troops would deploy there.
Trump ordered the suspension of refugee admissions into the U.S. All refugee travel to the U.S. was canceled, including that of nearly 1,660 Afghans cleared to resettle in America.
He reinstated the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which requires non-Mexican asylum seekers to wait in Mexico pending the resolution of their U.S. cases.
He instructed the attorney general to seek capital punishment against immigrants without legal status who commit crimes such as murder that are potentially punishable by death.
He issued an order to end birthright citizenship to children born in the U.S. if neither their mother or father is a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident. People born on U.S. soil are granted citizenship under the U.S. Constitution. Democratic state attorneys general and advocates launched lawsuits over the issue and a judge appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan blocked the order, calling it “blatantly unconstitutional.”
Trump also kicked off a process to designate criminal cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and to utilize a 1798 law known as the Alien Enemies Act against foreign gang members.
ABORTION
Trump restored U.S. participation in two international anti-abortion pacts, including one that cuts off U.S. family planning funds for foreign organizations if they provide or promote abortions. He reinstated the Mexico City Policy, which opponents call the “global gag rule” because they say it silences abortion advocates. Established by Reagan in 1984, it has been rescinded by each Democratic president since then and reinstated when a Republican returns to the White House.
TRANSGENDER TROOPS, COVID AND THE MILITARY
Trump signed a series of executive orders aimed at the military, including reinstating thousands of troops who were kicked out for refusing COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic, removing diversity, equity and inclusion requirements, and targeting transgender military members.
One order said expressing a gender identity that did not match an individual’s sex at birth would violate military standards, but did not make clear whether transgender soldiers currently serving in the military would be allowed to stay.
Trump rescinded an order from the administration of former Democratic President Joe Biden that explicitly allowed transgender people to serve in the military.
GRANTS AND LOANS
Trump’s White House ordered a pause in all federal grants and loans, which could disrupt education and healthcare programs, housing assistance, disaster relief and a host of other initiatives that depend on trillions of federal dollars.
The money is to be put on hold while the Trump administration reviews the programs to ensure they are aligned with the Republican president’s priorities.
CUTTING THE SIZE OF THE FEDERAL WORKFORCE
Trump ordered federal workers back to the office fulltime and agencies to take steps to halt remote work arrangements.
He issued a freeze on federal hiring, except for military, immigration enforcement, national security and public safety jobs.
He reinstated his first-term Schedule F executive order, which would strip potentially tens of thousands of government workers of employment protections and make them easier to fire.
GOVERNMENT DIVERSITY PROGRAMS AND GENDER ISSUES
Trump signed an order calling for the elimination of government diversity programs. That includes the ending of all federal offices and jobs related to diversity, equity and inclusion.
The Trump administration put all federal DEI office staff on paid leave as their offices faced closure.
The order directs the administration to review which federal contractors have provided DEI training materials to government agencies and revokes the Equal Employment Opportunity order signed in 1965 by then-President Lyndon B. Johnson.
He signed an order to “recognize two sexes, male and female” on official documents. “These sexes are not changeable and grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality,” the order stated.
Trump directed agencies to stop using gender identity or preferred pronouns.
STEPS TOWARD A TRAVEL BAN?
Trump signed an order that set a 60-day window for top State, Justice, intelligence and homeland security officials to identify countries whose vetting and screening processes are “so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries.”
U.S. civil rights groups warned the order lays the groundwork for the reinstatement of a ban on travelers from predominantly Muslim or Arab countries.
EXPANDING ENERGY PRODUCTION
Trump declared a national energy emergency to expand energy production, scrap regulations, and end rules aimed at expediting a transition to electric vehicles.
He signed orders aimed at promoting oil and gas development in Alaska, reversing Biden’s efforts to protect Arctic lands and U.S. coastal waters from drilling, suspending offshore wind lease sales, and lifting a freeze on liquid natural gas export permitting.
PARIS CLIMATE PACT
Trump ordered the U.S. to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, placing the world’s top historic emitter of greenhouse gases outside the global pact aimed at pushing nations to tackle climate change. Trump took the same action in his first term, a move which Biden reversed.
WITHDRAWAL FROM WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
Trump ordered his administration to begin the process of withdrawing from the World Health Organization, saying the global health agency had mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic and other international health crises.
JAN. 6 PARDONS
Trump pardoned about 1,500 of his supporters who attacked the U.S. Capitol four years ago, the vast majority of those convicted in relation to the riot. Those pardoned included leaders of the far-right groups the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys.
TIKTOK AND DOGE
Trump signed an executive order seeking to delay by 75 days the enforcement of a ban of popular short-video app TikTok that was slated to be shuttered on Jan. 19.
He formally established an advisory group called the Department of Government Efficiency, aimed at carrying out dramatic cuts to the U.S. government, attracting immediate lawsuits challenging its operations.
(Reporting by Tim Reid and Jeff Mason in Washington; Editing by Ross Colvin, Colleen Jenkins, Howard Goller and Deepa Babington)
