10 ‘laws’ Trump could bring in on Day One as he plans huge shake up

With Donald Trump’s first day in office days away, it’s time to strap in and remind yourself that America is not a dictatorship. In the days and weeks ahead, we are likely to hear about numerous executive orders being issued from the Oval Office. Their promulgation will create the illusion of activity and movement on the part of America’s new President. But it will, nonetheless, be largely an illusion.  

Presidents generally turn to executiveorders at two distinct moments: either out of frustration, when Congress blocks them from pursuing policies they personally favour, or with a flourish in their first 100 days in office, as they seek to underscore their priorities in government. 

As their name suggests, executive orders are signed directives from the President that seek to manage the operations of the federal government. They require no Congressional approval, which is why Presidents enjoy signing them. But they are not tantamount to legislation, which is why their impact on American life can often be substantially overstated. 

Executive orders occupy no-man’s-land in US politics. They often seek to condition behaviour that might, one day, be backed up by legislation. But as students of American politics learn by rote, “the President proposes, but Congress disposes”. Without Congressional support and action, there is only so much impact a President can enjoy. 

Reports suggest that Trump will issue more than 100 executive orders in the first weeks of his Presidency, with many emanating from the White House on Day One.   

Here are 10 possible actions that he may be planning: 

1: Tariffs

An easy Day One move by Trump – the muscular embrace of trade tariffs that the President’s economic team argue will protect and revive American manufacturing, and lead many overseas corporations to build product in the US rather than overseas. Trump may seek the immediate imposition of tariffs on sectors of the economy deemed vital to national security, but could go further. Trump’s lieutenants insist he has the executive authority needed to impose tariffs without Congressional approval. Lawmakers may take a different view. 

2. Mass deportations

Another top priority for Trum – he will seek to demonstrate his “Make America Great Again” credentials by immediately ordering the start of his promised mass deportations. Initially the administration is expected to focus on the removal of illegal immigrants accused or convicted of criminal acts in the United States. Trump may also sign orders to build more of his wall along the border with Mexico, and/or new detention facilities for migrants caught crossing illegally into the country, although both will require Congressional funding. 

3. January 6th pardons

Trump has indicated that he plans to pardon at least some of the more than 1,200 people charged with criminal offences during the 6 January 2021 uprising on Capitol Hill. More than 460 are jailed, and the President could use his pardon and/or commutation powers to release scores of them from prison immediately. An executive order might include language that declares convicted rioters to be patriotic Americans, and victims of prosecutorial misconduct. It is not clear whether Trump’s forgiveness will extend to those demonstrators convicted of seditious conspiracy and – in the case of Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio – serving a 22-year sentence in jail. 
 

4. Free speech

With the encouragement of Elon Musk and now Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Trump may issue some kind of declaration shoring up freedom of speech on social media and other tech platforms. The move may simply be a reaffirmation of the protections offered by the First Amendment to the US Constitution, with an added commitment by the federal government to liberate tech platforms from even the light-touch architecture that currently regulates them. 

5. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

Trump’s promise of an anti-regulation blitz could see him seek to formalise his efforts to create a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) headed by Musk and pharmaceutical billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy. He has vowed to issue a Day One order “directing every federal agency to immediately remove every single burdensome regulation driving up the cost of goods”. DOGE’s formal creation as a government department would require Congressional action, but by giving it the status of a presidential commission or advisory body, Trump could circumvent that requirement.  

6. Terminating DoJ independence

Trump has made no bones about his intention to terminate the traditional independence enjoyed by the Department of Justice, and may choose to announce that decision by fiat. Nothing in the US Constitution protects the DoJ from becoming his own personal fiefdom, and his nomination of former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to head the Department would – if successful – seal the deal. 

7. Drill, baby, drill

Energy production is a central pillar of Trump’s manifesto, and a by executive order he may seek to kick-start the exploration of new oil fields. Trump wants to reverse the environmental protections recently decreed by Biden that restrict 625 million acres of coastline from offshore drilling. But it may take time for Trump’s team to overcome the previous administration’s efforts to tie their hands. 

8. Paris climate accords/World Health Organisation

More easy wins for Trump – he will order America’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Change Accords for a second time (he pulled the United States out during his first term in office, a move that Biden later reversed). Trump has also said he will revoke America’s membership of the World Health Organisation, arguing the WHO is controlled by China.  

9. Targeting ‘woke’ schools

Another easy win for the Maga base – Trump could threaten to cut federal funding for schools that teach Critical Race Theory (CRT) and/or enforce vaccine mandates. He also plans to ban CRT from being taught to members of the military as part of a “war on woke” that will overturn many federal government policies requiring Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). 

10. Gulf of America

An outlier – Trump’s pledge earlier this month to rename the Gulf of Mexico may be accelerated by executive order. Congressional action would still be required to fund the creation of new maps and administrative materials for the US government, but the renaming would be precisely the kind of executive flourish that Trump may choose to embrace.