Olivia Vest
Managing Editor
Following a tumultuous journey through the 2016 election season to the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump on Friday, Jan. 20, changes are already being implemented within the United States government as Trump has made his first political moves in his new role.
The 45th President has issued 12 executive orders within his first six days in office (as of the date this article was written) ranging from abortion mandates to immigration restrictions. Most recently, on Wednesday, Jan. 25, Trump signed an executive order to begin construction of the border wall (and the employment of an additional 5,000 border patrol agents) initially referenced in his first campaign speech.
According to NBC News, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations Edward Alden is concerned for future U.S. interactions with Mexico.
“Mexico is a proud sovereign country, to have the president of the United States bully Mexico into submission is not going to go over well,” Alden said.
Other immigration-related orders have been signed as well. His second executive order in the pair issued on Wednesday, Jan. 25 featured several components, ranging from the classification and prioritization of illegal immigrants for deportation. In addition, the order would mandate the hire of thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents.
Despite Trump’s most recent moves in the presidential chair, his first steps in the executive branch dealt with his predecessor, Barack Obama’s, legacy: the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
While the specifics of the ACA changes are unclear, the executive order mandates that work should be done “to the maximum extent permitted by law” to essentially begin the dismantling of certain parts of the Act.
“To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) and the heads of all other executive departments and agencies (agencies) with authorities and responsibilities under the Act shall exercise all authority and discretion available to them to waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation of any provision or requirement of the Act that would impose a fiscal burden on any State or a cost, fee, tax, penalty, or regulatory burden on individuals, families, healthcare providers, health insurers, patients, recipients of healthcare services, purchasers of health insurance, or makers of medical devices, products, or medications,” Section Two of the order stated.
Because of the order’s somewhat vague language, there is much speculation that it serves to simply represent the president’s intent to eventually repeal Obamacare.
Unrelated to the president’s executive orders, other trickle-down effects have taken place with Trump’s inauguration. A survey conducted by the Government Business Council and Government Executive expressed that 28 percent of federal government workers would consider resignation following Trump’s inauguration.
According to an article by The Washington Post, an entire team of senior management officials resigned from their posts in the State Department. Although the nature of their removal from office is currently unclear, four top officials abruptly tendered their resignation on Wednesday, Jan. 25.
Reactions to Trump’s first steps in office vary greatly, though his ventures currently seem to follow through with the proposals of his 100-Day Plan.
