Since taking over as the President of the United States, Donald Trump has undone many years’ of work done by the Obama administration. Donald Trump’s executive orders and memoranda have been aimed at rolling back Obama’s policies and fulfilling his own campaign promises. Surprisingly, Trump has signed fewer executive orders in the first 12 days than Obama did in the same period in 2009.
A timeline of Donald Trump’s executive orders
In his first 12 days, Obama had signed a total of nine executive orders and ten memoranda. By comparison, Donald Trump signed seven executive orders and 11 memos. Here’s the complete list of Donald Trump’s executive orders:
January 20: Minimizing the Economic Burden of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Pending Repeal
Donald Trump’s first executive order was to repeal his predecessor’s signature health insurance law known as Obamacare. The executive order itself was vague in terms of what measures will be taken by the administration. The directive called for minimizing the financial burden on patients, insurers, healthcare providers, and others.
January 24: Expediting Environmental Reviews and Approvals for High-Priority Infrastructure Projects
Trump has promised to boost spending on the US infrastructure projects. Those in charge of evaluating the environmental impact of infrastructure projects have been directed to return their assessments in a more timely manner. Also, any cabinet secretary or governor can seek high-priority designation for a project.
January 25: Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements
Building a giant wall along the Mexican border was one of Donald Trump’s key campaign promises. With this executive order, President Trump directed the Department of Homeland Security to start construction of a 1954-mile long wall along the US-Mexico border using existing federal funds. The directive also includes the hiring of an additional 5,000 border patrol officers.
January 25: Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States
This executive order complements the Mexican border wall. President Trump plans to hire another 10,000 immigration officers to begin the deportation of illegal immigrants living in the United States. He has also targeted the so-called “sanctuary cities” that offer protection of undocumented immigrants.
January 27: Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States
This executive order has led to widespread protests across the United States. Trump has banned the entry of people from seven primarily Muslim countries for 90 days. He has suspended the refugee program for 120 days. And refugees from Syria have been barred from entering the US indefinitely.
January 28: Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Employees
During his election campaign, Donald Trump had pledged to “drain the swamp” in Washington, D.C. This executive order imposes a lifetime ban on any administrative official lobbying on behalf of foreign governments. Those involved in other types of lobbying will face a five-year ban. However, this directive has a loophole as it covers only officials who were lobbyists before joining the administration.
January 30: Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs
This directive aims to fulfill Trump’s promise of rolling back federal regulations on small businesses. It requires the federal agencies to cancel two existing regulations for every one new regulation they adopt. It will tighten Trump’s grip on agency regulations. The order puts a limit on every agency’s regulatory ability through an annual budgeting process.
