Tracking presidential actions and other news.
At UN, U.S. Votes Against Condemnation of Russian Invasion of Ukraine.
America First Investment Policy. Aims to attract foreign investment from U.S. allies while restricting adversarial nations like China. Directs agencies to expedite environmental reviews for major projects.
Defending American Companies and Innovators From Unfair Fines and Penalties. Directs U.S. agencies to counteract foreign governments’ “discriminatory” taxes and regulations that harm American companies, particularly in technology. It authorizes actions like tariffs and assigns responsibilities to trade and commerce officials to protect U.S. business interests.
Kash Patel Confirmed as FBI Chief, Also Named Acting Head of ATF.
Trump Fires Top General, Other Leaders, Nominates New Joint Chiefs Chairman. General Brown, three top JAG officers, Chief of Naval Operations all out. Retired USAF General Dan Caine is the new nominee. Replacements for the others TBD.
DOJ Drops Hiring Discrimination Lawsuit Against Musk’s SpaceX. Dismissal is “with prejudice” and the case can’t be refiled. The Biden DOJ alleged SpaceX discriminated against non-citizens.
Trump II DHS Cuts Protections for Haitian Immigrants, Brings Deportation Closer.
Trump II Shuts Down DOJ Police Misconduct Database.
Commencing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy. Identifies a handful of boards and committees to be eliminated or have budgets reduced. Directs selected agencies (CFPB, FDIC) to identify additional boards and committees for elimination.
Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President’s “Department of Government Efficiency” Deregulatory Initiative. Instructs agencies to review regulations and identify those that are unconstitutional or contravene admin policy. Next instructs agencies to identify regulations for selective enforcement and defines a review process for new regulations that includes DOGE and OMB.
Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies. The president here claims the right to direct and control independent agencies such as the FCC, the SEC, the Federal Reserve based on his role at the top of the executive branch. (The order has a carve out for Fed monetary policy.) There’ll be lawsuits.
Expanding Access to IVF. Instructs the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy (Vince Haley) to come up with some ideas to reduce regulatory requirements to reduce the cost of IVF.
Here’s a useful way to keep track of stuff: Project 2025 Tracker. It aims to track Project 2025 goals that make it into policy. As of today, the administration is about a third of the way through.
Radical Transparency About Wasteful Spending. Instructs agencies to reveal details about cancelled contracts, revealed fraud, etc.
Secretary of State Rubio in Saudi Arabia to Meet with Russians, Arab Leaders to Discuss Gaza Ethnic Cleansing and Ukraine Peace.
Establishing the National Energy Dominance Council. Yet another council. This one is tasked with finding ways to open the energy spigot, across government.
Keeping Education Accessible and Ending Covid-19 Mandates in Schools.Instructs Dept of Ed to investigate vaccine mandates in school and find ways to eliminate them, including via removal of funding.
More Mass Firings at Federal Health Agencies. FDA, Medicare, and Emergency Response group.
Trump II Approves Kentucky Emergency Declaration. For emergency support, etc, following recent storms.
Trump II Education Department Informs Higher Ed DEI Is Unlawful, Says Compliance Required in 14 Days.
Thousands of Federal Health Research Employees Fired.
Trump II to Layoff 9,000 IRS Employees. It’s tax season. There are about 100k folks working there. 10k came on in the past year.
Acting AUSA, Two Others Resign Over Dismissal of NYC Mayor Adams’s Federal Corruption Suit.
Establishing the President’s Make America Healthy Again Commission. Sets up a commission to look at chronic illness, in particular calls out certain types of psychiatric drugs for review.
Federal Layoffs at Dept of Ed, SBA, elsewhere.
Forest Service RIF takes 3,400 Workers. The USFS has (had) about 35,000 employees. Firefighters, public safety staffers spared. Smokey Bear had no comment.
EOne Voice for America’s Foreign Policy. Instructs Foreign Service officers to faithfully carry out the president’s foreign policy and sets up a procedure to sanction/fire staff that do not.
Implementing the President’s “Dept of Government Efficiency” Workforce Optimization Initiative. Instructs agencies to limit hiring to 1 new employee per 4 departures. Instructs agencies to prepare for a reduction in force. Gives DOGE teams authority to recommend staff cuts.
Proclamation: Adjusting Imports of Steel Into the Inited States. Announces intention to amend various previous proclamations to levy a 25% tariff on steel imports, effective March 12, 2025.