By: Alyssa James Staff Writer
When President Trump took office on Jan. 20, he immediately began to take action on issues that he spoke about during his campaign. On that day, per United Press International, he expelled an insurance rate cut for new homeowners which was set by the Obama Administration. He also began the process to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. UPI.com states that, “Trump’s order asked federal agencies to ‘prepare to afford the states more flexibility and control to create a more free and open healthcare market.’”
Since that first day in office, he has been working left and right on presidential duties. For example, he has taken action against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, abolishing the deal that America made with Asia. According to UPI.com, this was done due to the fear that the TPP had the possibility of killing U.S. jobs. Along with that decision, President Trump made a change toward federal workers, bringing about a temporary hiring freeze; the freeze excluded military and some security positions.
A very well-known order that President Trump has put into action is the prevention of U.S. funds being used toward select health charities that aid with abortion. This order has been on and off in America since the Reagan Administration.
Another important decision that was made was in regards to the Supreme Court. As of recent, Judge Neil McGill Gorsuch has been nominated to be the replacement of Antonin Scalia.
Considering the Dakota Access Pipeline, which has received a lot of attention, an executive order was signed making the completion of the pipeline possible. With that signed, the process of creating the pipeline from Canada will begin again. In a release on Feb. 8, 2016, Energy Transfer Partners stated that, “The Dakota Access pipeline … and the Energy Transfer Crude Oil Pipeline… (together, the “Bakken Pipeline”) are expected to be in service in the second quarter of 2017.”
Within the Trump Administration, there has been a number of executive orders pertaining to immigration. Federal grant money has been stripped away from “sanctuary cities,” which are cities that protect immigrants who are not authorized and giving them access to city services. It is noted on UPI.com that President Trump, “also seeks to hire 10,000 additional immigration officers, build more detention centers and prioritize immigrants for deportation.” Not only that, but many have heard and are aware of the infamous Trump Wall. Building the wall has not begun; however, he has taken action by signing an order to begin the preparation for building the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
The United States visa vetting process is being reworked as well due to Trump’s presidency. This executive order demands for a thorough security check for people from foreign nations who desire to obtain a U.S. travel visa.
President Trump has initiated an order to strengthen the U.S. military. This legislation wants to rebuild our armed forces in order to increase our national and global security. Along with this, he has restructured the National Security Council, which will aid the President in choosing the best course of action on security issues. Within this new NSC, President Trump added the CIA to be a part of it.
It has been a just over a month of Donald Trump being President.
Throughout the past few weeks, there have been a large number of orders signed. If anything is certain, President Trump has been an active president since being inaugurated last month.
Contact the author at ajames16@wou.edu
