Trump, like Obama, signs flurry of first week executive actions – The Hill
President Trump's first week in office has been marked by a series of significant executive actions as he looks to start in on some of his key priorities.
Presidents have a handful of tools to push through policy without waiting on Congressincluding executive orders and the less formal process of presidential memoranda. Both allow the president to direct executive agencies on how he wants them to enforce existing law.
Trumps pace ofsix orders and eight memoranda in his first seven daysputs him roughly on pace with former President Barack ObamaBarack ObamaTrump, like Obama, signs flurry of first week executive actions Ex-Defense secretary: Trump's changes to security council a 'big mistake' De Blasio: Trump's immigration order 'un-American' MOREs first week in office. But Trump and Obama both dwarfed other recent presidents in their use of executive actions early in their term.
Donald TrumpDonald Trump'60 Minutes' changes lineup to re-broadcast Syrian refugee piece Trump, like Obama, signs flurry of first week executive actions Feinstein to introduce two bills in response to Trump's ban MORE 5 Executive Orders, 9 Presidential Memoranda
Trump used executive actions during his first week in the White House tostart fulfilling campaign promises.
Trumps first moves were lifted right from his presidential bid: an order calling for agencies to minimize the burden of ObamaCare ahead of the impending repeal, along with a memorandum freezing all new government regulations.
On Monday, Trump withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and announced a federal hiring freeze.
The same day, he announced theinstitution of an expanded version of the Mexico City policy, a Reagan-era rule suspended by Democratic presidents that forbids federal money fromgoing to foreign nonprofits that receive perform or support abortions outside of America.
Remember this one, since every president has changed Americas stance on this anti-abortion policy when their party retakes the White House.
Later this week, Trump instituted measures dealing with pipelines and manufacturing: ordering pipelines to use as much American-made material as possible, reauthorizing the Dakota Access and Keystone Pipelines and calling for expedited reviews for companies looking to build new factories.
Trumps next twoexecutive ordersdealt withothermajor campaign promisesstarting the construction of a wall on the Mexican border and anotherthat laid out policies on deportations.
He closed out his first week with twoFridayactions. One order banned immigration from Syria while pausing all refugee admissions while a memorandum called for a rebuilding of the military.
Barack Obama6 Executive Orders, 9 Presidential Memoranda
Obamasignedseveral executive actions in his first seven days, a departure from the slower first-week paces of presidents immediately before him.
Those actions mostly centered on a few major themesincreasing transparency, softening detention policies and promoting a more liberal environmental policy. All of these matched with key Obama campaign planks.
Obama laid out an ethics plan that instituted lobbyist gift bans and placed limits on lobbyists entering government or appointees leaving it. He also issued a broad memo calling for government transparency, greased the wheels for more disclosures of presidential recordsby repealing a more restrictive George W. Bush order,and called on agencies to adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure for Freedom of Information Act requests.
Obama also called for reviews of detention policies,orderedthe closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention center and ended the use of enhanced interrogation techniques like waterboarding.
On energy, Obama issued threeenvironmental orders. They includedincreasingfuel economy standards and granting California a waiver to enact tougher emission restrictions.
Obama signed three other ordersone reversing the Mexico City Policyin favor of abortion rights, one freezing senior executive branch pay and a third that allocated funding for Palestinian refugees.
George W. Bush0 Executive Orders, 2 Presidential Memoranda
Bush is the only one of the last five presidents not to issue any executive orders in his first week in officehis first executive orders came on his ninth day in office, creating the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
But both of the memoranda Bush signed in his first week in office were substantial. The first reinstated the Mexico City policy, while a second limited executive branch hiring.
Bill ClintonBill ClintonTrump, like Obama, signs flurry of first week executive actions Chelsea Clinton attends NYC protest against Trump immigration ban Trump brings his campaign tactics to the White House MORE2 Executive Orders, 6 Presidential Memoranda
Clinton got to work quicklywhen he took office after12 years of Republican control of the White House, removing social policies favored by Christian conservatives.
Five of Clintons six earliest memoranda dealt with social issues in some form.
He lifted the ban on fetal tissue research, removed the Title X gag rule that barred federally funded clinics from providing information on abortions, allowed military hospitals to perform abortions as long as no Defense Department funds were used and eased restrictions on the medical abortion drug RU-486.
He also rescinded the Mexico City policy, beginning thefirst-weektug-of-war over the policy.
His other orders include an ethics pledge, the creation of the National Economic Council and a regulatory review.
George H.W. Bush1 Executive Order, 0 Presidential Memoranda
Coming off of two terms of serving as President Ronald Reagans vice president, the elder Bush didnt find too much in the executive branch that he felt he needed to fix immediately.
Bush issued no presidential memoranda during his first seven days, according to theAmerican Presidency Project, and only signed one executive order on ethics reform.
That order created the Presidents Commission on Federal Ethics Law Reform, which was tasked with making a report about potential reforms to help ensure full public confidence in the integrity of all Federal public officials and employees.
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Trump, like Obama, signs flurry of first week executive actions - The Hill
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