President Donald Trump has been making national headlines following his actions of signing numerous executive orders within his first days in the presidential office. During his campaign, Trump promised several orders to be taken immediately once he was sworn into office, including banning certain kinds of immigration, repealing Obamacare, reinstating the Mexico City Policy and several others.
After nine days in office, he has already taken action on a number of his ideas. Most recently was his executive action calling for the “extreme vetting” of new arrivals to the United States. According to CBS News, Trump signed the action at the Pentagon on Friday, Jan. 27. “I’m establishing new vetting measures to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States,” he told the audience.
The order directs the State Department to stop issuing visas to Syrian nationals and halts the processing of Syrian refugees. This will remain in effect until Trump determines that enough security measures have been taken that terrorists cannot exploit any weaknesses in the current vetting system. The order has no mention of integrating any safe zones in Syria; all refugees that are currently involved in the war there will be settled until further notice.
Other orders that Trump signed included expanding the military and putting a government-wide freeze on regulations until the head of a department or agency, selected by Trump, has time to review and approve those regulations. Trump has also signed a memorandum to renew the process of the Dakota Access Pipeline Project, which Obama recently halted under his presidency. The order invites TransCanada to resubmit an application for a presidential permit for the pipeline’s construction and operation.
President Trump also made the decision to withdraw the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an action he described in his memorandum that would “promote American industry, protect American workers and raise American wages.”
The Mexico City Policy was reinstated on Monday, Jan. 23, an action that bans the granting of U.S. funding to health providers internationally that discuss abortion as a family planning option. President Ronald Reagan introduced the policy in 1984 and it had been rescinded by Democrats before Trump.
According to CBS News, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire, said in a statement, “President Trump’s reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule ignores decades of research, instead favoring ideological politics over women and families. We know that when family planning services and contraceptives are easily accessible, there are fewer unplanned pregnancies, maternal deaths, and abortions.”
Other orders President Trump signed were a hiring freeze on civilian government employees, defunding of sanctuary cities, building a border wall in Mexico and the replacement or repeal of Obamacare. Trump feels as though there is “something that is better and more affordable that can be made available.”
A list of Trump’s promises and their progress can be found at this interactive link:
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2017/politics/tracking-trumps-promises/
