Donald trump part 1

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/pggbpz/all-the-laws-and-executive-orders-trump-has-signed-so-far

Presidential Memorandum 60: To the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate [Regarding Funding Designated as Emergency Requirements]
What It Will Do: This action is a necessary notification, under existing law, in order to designate certain funds outlined in H.R.601 for disaster relief purposes.
Who It Will Affect: This is just a formality for enacting disaster relief and continued government funding.

Presidential Memorandum 59: To the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate [Regarding Funding for Overseas Contingency Operations/Global War on Terrorism Activities]
What It Will Do: This action is a necessary notification, under existing law, in order to designate certain funds outlined in H.R.601 for disaster relief purposes.
Who It Will Affect: This is just a formality for enacting disaster relief and continued government funding.

Presidential Memorandum 58: For the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury [Regarding a] Delegation of Authority under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act
What It Will Do: In December 2016, the Obama administration enacted the law mentioned in this action's title, which authorized the president to impose financial and visa sanctions on foreigners suspected of or proven to have perpetrated human rights violations or acts of corruption. (The law in question is not to be confused with the December 2012 Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law and Accountability Act, commonly known as the Magnitsky Act.) This action passes off the president's authority to administer financial sanctions to the Secretary of the Treasury, and to administer visa sanctions to the Secretary of State.
Who It Will Affect: In theory, this isn't a major action—just another show of disengagement from the nuts and bolts of running the nation by the current president. However this move might be controversial. The now-notorious June 2016 meeting between Donald Trump Jr., a number of prominent campaign staff, and Russian lobbyists, ostensibly to gather dirt on Hillary Clinton for use in that year's elections, actually concerned Russian efforts to dismantle the 2012 Magnitsky Act's sanctions. This action does not concern that bill, but concerns similar sanctions powers. When filtered through this precedent, and ongoing accusations of coziness with Russia and acquiescence to its interests, Trump's decision to step away from direct involvement with sanctions powers intended for use against mostly Russian officials may raise eyebrows.


Presidential Memorandum 57: For the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury [Regarding the] Continuation of the Exercise of Certain Authorities under the Trading with the Enemy Act
What It Will Do: Under the provisions of the act mentioned in this action's title, sanctions issued by the president against nations the US is not at war with have natural sunsets. This action continues a long tradition of extending sanctions issued under this act for another year.

Presidential Proclamation 66: [Proclaiming] Friday, September 8, 2017, Through Sunday, September 10, 2017, As National Days of Prayer and Remembrance
What It Will Do: An annual presidential duty dating back to the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks, this action commemorates the individuals killed in that tragedy. It also commemorates the service of first responders, about 400 of whom gave their lives rushing into the aftermath of the attacks. And it offers thanks to all those fighting terror on behalf of our nation to this day. Trump's text is all boilerplate and basic sentiments.

Presidential Proclamation 65: [Proclaiming] September 11, 2017, As Patriot Day
What It Will Do: Another annual presidential duty dating back to the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, this action makes the same recognitions as expressed in the above proclamation. However it calls for remembrances on the anniversary of the attacks, not the days leading up to it, and explicitly requests Americans observe a moment of silence at 8:46 AM Eastern Time.
Who It Will Affect: See Presidential Proclamation 66, above.


September 7
S.Con.Res.24: A Concurrent Resolution Providing for a Correction in the Enrollment of H.R.601
What It Will Do: This resolution turns a bill that'd already passed through both chambers of Congress into a vehicle to rapidly realize and pass a deal struck earlier in the week to provide relief to hurricane victims and raise the debt ceiling and continue funding the government at current levels through December 8, 2017. It changes the title of that bill, and opens the addition of provisions relevant to these matters, on top of the bill's existing legislative language.

H.Con.Res. 69: Authorizing the Use of the Capitol Grounds for the District of Columbia Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch Run
What It Will Do: This resolution permits the group Special Olympics—District of Columbia to use the Capitol grounds for a 5K run on October 6, 2017. This is an annual tradition dating back to 1986, so the permission is routine. The Capitol Police are tasked with providing security, and they and the Architect of the Capitol are tasked with issuing any restrictions on how the space may be used during the event for safety and its integrity.
Who It Will Affect: This organization and the 1,600 area children, for whom it provides year-round sports training and competitions, will appreciate this routine permission.

September 1
Presidential Proclamation 64: [Proclaiming] September 3, 2017, as a National Day of Prayer for the Victims of Hurricane Harvey and for Our National Response and Recovery Efforts
What It Will Do: A one-off rather than a recurrent presidential duty, like most proclamations, this action calls on Americans to pray for those affected by or responding to the damages caused by Hurricane Harvey. Trump's text begins with a brief account of Harvey's landfall on August 25, then justifies a day of prayer as an American governmental tradition dating back to the Revolutionary War, before finally offering platitudes to affected communities and responders.


August 31
Presidential Proclamation 63: [Proclaiming] September 2017 as National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month
What It Will Do: An annual presidential duty, this order recognizes the challenges faced by the million of Americans suffering or recovering from substance addictions and their families face, and pledges that the federal government will stand behind them in their recovery efforts. Aside from the standard sentiments, Trump's text boasts about how much his administration has done for addiction and addicts, citing a $500 million pledged investment in prevention programs, work on expanding access to treatment and building recovery support networks, the creation of a Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, and the allocation of $2.6 billion in his 2018 budget proposal for border security, which he insists would stem trafficking.
Who It Will Affect: Organizations, communities, and lawmakers nationwide will mark this month with rallies to raise awareness of addiction issues and campaigns to disseminate tools and resources for coping with the disorder and its effects. However, Trump's efforts to boost drug resources are like most of his initiatives: tiny signals of ostensible intent that gathering publicity that mask attempts to slash core substance abuse resources and funds throughout the government that would (if successful) more than outweigh any benefits he offers anti-addiction efforts. He has also ignored some of the early recommendations from the Commission he references, notably refusing thus far to declare the opioid crisis an actual national emergency, even as he calls it one in his speeches.


Presidential Memorandum 56: Text of a Letter from the President to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate [Concerning Pay Increases for Federal Civilian Employees in 2018]
What It Will Do: By law, federal employees are supposed to receive annual pay increases matching those in the private sector, as measured by a set formula. This year that increase was supposed to be 1.9 percent across the board, with additional increases for certain agencies or regions. However in this action, Trump uses his powers to, under the pretense that the nation still needs to find savings to recover from our economic downturn of recent years, reduce this to a 1.4 percent boost across the board and limit additional increases to a total of a 1.9 percent boost anywhere.
Who It Will Affect: This action clearly affects federal workers. The question is to what extent. In individual terms, this lower salary boost will not amount to many losses, but will save the government billions that can be directed towards other initiatives. It is also routine for presidents to lower additional locality-based boosts to salary increases, as the formula is widely considered to be outdated. However federal workers have seen their salary boosts slashed below statute for years, and frozen from 2011 to 2013 at Obama's directive, leading some worker groups and outside observers to worry about the cumulative effects on the livability or competitive attractiveness of government salaries. This action is not binding. Congress can still buck it in favor of a higher rate. But that seems unlikely given current budget dynamics.


August 28
Executive Order 43: Restoring State, Tribal, and Local Law Enforcement's Access to Life-Saving Equipment and Resources
What It Will Do: In 1990, Congress approved a program to transfer surplus materials from the Department of Defense to law enforcement agencies nationwide, primarily for use in anti-drug trafficking operations. In 1997, the program was opened up more broadly, although with priority still given to anti-drug and anti-terror operation requests. This transfer program, which has amounted to more than $6 billion worth of materials since it was first put in place, has largely involved innocuous materials, like light bulbs or fax machines.


August 25
Presidential Memorandum 54: For the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security [Regarding] Military Service by Transgender Individuals
What It Will Do: Last June, the Obama administration issued policy that would have opened recruitment of and service by openly transgender individuals in the United States military by July 1, 2017—provided those individuals have been stable in their gender identities for at least 18 months. The policy would also require the military to cover their gender confirmation therapies and surgeries like other service members' health needs. The current secretary of Defense, James Mattis, delayed the implementation of this policy to 2018, claiming it required further study before implementation. But in the meantime an unofficial policy had come into place that allowed trans individuals already in the military to serve openly.



Presidential Memorandum 53: A Letter from the President to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate [Regarding the Imposition of Sanctions with Respect to the Situation in Venezuela]
What It Will Do: American legal statute requires that when a president issues new sanctions under his unilateral powers, like those in Executive Order 42 against Venezuela, he must officially notify Congress that he has done so. This memorandum is that notification.

Presidential Proclamation 61: [Proclaiming] August 26, 2017, As Women's Equality Day
What It Will Do: This is an annual presidential duty, dating back to 1976, recognizing the anniversary of the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. It also celebrates the contributions women make to their communities, families, and nation. Trump's text contains the standard historical references and platitudes, but also touts his own administration as a paragon of women's rights and empowerment. His focus, he states, is clearly on promoting the equal participation of women in the workforce—a goal tied to his larger jobs-building image.
Who It Will Affect: For most of the nation, this day will be an innocuous recognition of history and of women's modern contributions to the nation, marked by lawmakers and other community groups with any number of Tweets or events and so on.


August 23
H.R.2288: Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017
What It Will Do: At the start of 2017, 470,000 veterans were waiting for decisions on appeals about their benefits. That number had risen by 90,000 over the past two years, despite an influx of $200 million to solve the backlog of appeals cases provided by Congress from 2013 to 2016. Although these benefits are often essential to veterans or their families, the appeals process currently takes up to three to six years in many cases, and has taken 25 years for at least one man.

This bill attempts to solve that crisis by reforming the appeals system rather than just throwing money at it. It makes a number of tiny tweaks to process, like altering burden of proof standards, but it also authorizes the development of a system with more and more efficient appeals tracks, to be tested as soon as possible on an opt-in basis; reports shall also be issued on its efficacy.

Who It Will Affect: Ideally, this bill will halt the rise in pending claims appeal wait cases and times, if not reverse them, allowing veterans to obtain their benefits in a timely manner. The general push has the support of Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin, who called for a congressional fix in February, and from a number of veterans' service organizations—although some of those groups urge caution in the implementation and fine-grained details of the new tracks, lest they create


August 22
H.R.339: Northern Mariana Islands Economic Expansion Act
What It Will Do: When the Northern Mariana Islands became a commonwealth in free and willful association with the United States in 1978, it maintained its own independent immigration system and policies. However the commonwealth used this freedom to create a system drawing in high numbers of guest workers and providing them with poor labor and human rights protections. Outrage to this led to the federalization of the commonwealth's immigration system as part of the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008, which imposed restrictions on guest workers, including caps on how many could come in within any year, with the aim of making the islands more reliant on their domestic workforce. This year, the commonwealth was set to run out of its immigration cap before the end of the year, which locals believed would create a labor shortage threatening vital functions and the regional economy. (The islands have reportedly been in a bit of a construction boom and ate up permits for workers to fill roles in that flurry of labor.) This bill attempts to resolve that issue by providing a few extra permits, provided that at least a certain number of them go towards healthcare workers and plant systems operators, nor construction.
Who It Will Affect: Ideally, this will keep the economy of and life in the commonwealth on a solid footing, and even an upward trend, for a few years more as it works its way towards self-sufficiency and weans itself off of a long history of reliance on outsider labor.

H.J.Res.76: Granting the Consent and Approval of Congress for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the State of Maryland, and the District of Columbia to Enter into a Compact Relating to the Establishment of the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission
What It Will Do: Following a smoke incident at a station in 2015, officials in the two states and district mentioned in the title decided that safety oversight duties for the Washington Metrorail system, which services parts of all of these entities, should be shifted from existing authorities to a legally and fiscally independent Washington Metrorail Safety Commission. (The idea has been floating around for years, but got a kick in the ass after that incident.) Exactly such a commission is actually now required under federal law. But given the peculiar nature of the District of Columbia, Congress had to approve the three entities' plans to cooperate together to develop this new body. This resolution provides that approval—and includes the detailed plans already drawn up by those entities for what this new body, to be run by a board of representatives from the states and DC, will look like and how it will operate.
Who It Will Affect: Ideally, this will lead to the creation of a new safety monitoring body that will lift a federal penalization on the Washington Metro area's transit projects, benefitting the region in innumerable ways. Since everyone involved seems eager to move forward with this project, and it is required by law, it's hard to see anything but straightforward upsides all around.


August 20
Presidential Proclamation 60: [Proclaiming] August 20 through August 26, 2017, as National Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Week
What It Will Do: An annual presidential duty, this proclamation expresses gratitude for the support and understanding employers and communities show to America's 1 million National Guard and Reserve forces, accommodating them despite costs when they have to leave for trainings or deployments. Trump's text contains mere boilerplate platitudes on this, expressing appreciation and calling on Americans, officials, and groups to mark the week as they see fit.
Who It Will Affect: Members of the Guard and Reserve and their employers will appreciate this (basic) recognition for their efforts to maintain a sometimes inconvenient volunteer military.

August 18
H.R.374: To Remove the Sunset Provision of Section 203 of Public Law 105-374, and for Other Purposes
What It Will Do: This bill concerns a law that allows California, Oregon, and Washington to develop their own laws and regulations for the management of Dungeness crab fishing grounds, for which there are no federal management plans. That allowance originally had a sunset date. This law removes that clause, making this allowance for local management permanent.
Who It Will Affect: Dungeness crab fishers and processors and those who regulate them.

H.R.2430: FDA Reauthorization Act of 2017
What It Will Do: This bill continues the Food and Drug Administration's various user fee programs, which were set to expire on September 30 and through which they collect payments from drug and medical device makers to fund and speed up their review and approval process, for another five years. Over that period, the programs are expected to collect between $8 and $9 billion, a quarter of the FDA's funding. Along with minor fee regime adjustments, the bill contains numerous little tweaks intended to improve the review process and safety monitoring, including bringing in more patient input and conducting more real-world product usage and results data. The bill provides for more scientific expertise within the FDA, seeks to encourage harmonization between US and international medicine and medical products standards, and will finally facilitate the funding of the 21st Century Care Act of 2016, which sought to accelerate medical product development and innovation to bring novel drugs to market faster yet safely.
Who It Will Affect: This bill has attracted the usual suspicion that, thanks to coziness between the FDA and the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, it will lower consumer safety standards. But it passed after two years of negotiations with widespread bipartisan support and the approval of the pharmaceutical industry, and may well help to speed up a notoriously slow and costly approval process. So long as consumer safety remains intact—or at least does not deteriorate in any perceptible way—that is likely mostly a positive development.


H.R.873: Global War on Terrorism War Memorial Act
What It Will Do: In 2015, a group of veterans and citizens banded together to advocate for the creation of a national monument somewhere in Washington, DC, to commemorate those who have served, died, been wounded, or gone missing in global war on terror. However, under the provisions of the Commemorative Works Act of 1986, national monuments in DC to a US conflict can only be developed ten years after those conflicts have concluded. Recognizing that the amorphous war on terror has no end in sight, this bill provides a special dispensation to begin work on this monument before the conflict has finished. It specifically recognizes the group founded in 2015 as the Global War on Terror Memorial Foundation and authorizes it to raise funds to plan and build a National Global War on Terrorism Memorial in DC, stipulating that no federal funds may be used in the process and that any excess funds raised must go to the Department of the Interior.
Who It Will Affect: This bill has received widespread support. It's hard to argue, no matter what one thinks of the war on terror, that there should be a place to honor those 7,000 or so Americans who have died thus far in the conflict, 1 million who have been wounded, and three million who have served. This memorial will eventually become a site for recognition, healing, and connection, and ideally education about these conflicts—their meaning and their place in global and American history. The foundation authorized by this act now faces the daunting task of figuring out how to develop a monument that can recognize the service of peoples in varied branches of the military across dozens of nations involved in the war on terror, and how to do so in a way that can accommodate future developments in this endless conflict.

Presidential Memorandum 52: Elevation of US Cyber Command to a Unified Combat Command
What It Will Do: In 2010, the Obama administration merged two military task forces, on cyber offensive and Pentagon cyber defensive operations, into a "sub-unified combatant unit," a dedicated military force. Known as Cyber Command, or CYBERCOM, the unit has to date been under the aegis of Strategic Command, one of nine "unified combatant commands" tasked with organizing and controlling military operations related to particular regions of the world or areas of expertis. Strategic Command also controls America's military space, missile defense, and nuclear capabilities. Cyber Command also operated from within, logistically supported, and was ultimately controlled by the head of the intelligence gathering National Security Agency.

This action elevates Cyber Command to become America's tenth unified combatant command, freeing it from and putting it on par with Strategic Command. Cyber Command will take on all the relevant command duties of such a unit, as well as concentrate American cybersecurity and offensive duties into itself; its full duties will be reflected in the next update to the Unified Command Plan. The action further instructs the Secretary of Defense to nominate an officer to lead the organization, who the president will then nominate for Senate approval. The elevation will not be entirely complete until this new official has been identified and put in place. The action finally instructs the Secretary of Defense and Direction of the National Intelligence Agency to evaluate whether Cyber Command should still to be part of, or split from, the NSA.
Who It Will Affect: This elevation has been under consideration almost since Cyber Command came into being. It is meant to give the unit more space and streamlined opportunity to develop its cyber offensive capabilities, to aid in disrupting digital campaigns by groups like ISIS or physical operations like North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, as well as to strengthen its abilities to detect and shut down cybersecurity threats. The only reason this move did not come sooner is that, until 2015, Cyber Command was focused on building up its capacity. Its 133 teams only reached basic capacity last fall, when they hit 5,000 employees—and the unit is not expected to be at full capacity until late 2018, when it is able to keep 6,500 individuals on staff. However despite mixed results from its first offensive campaigns against ISIS over the past two years, consensus is that the Command is ready to stand on its own, and the decision to cut it free from Strategic Command at this point has met with widespread support.

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Opening the door to separation from the NSA could benefit the unit and America's overall cyber capabilities as well. The NSA's focus is on monitoring and collecting information on cyber campaigns against the US, while Cyber Command is meant to defend against and shut them down, missions that can run at odds with each other and that some believe should be pursued separately, simultaneously, and at equal strength. However doubts remain as to whether Cyber Command can operate without the NSAs support, or whether the two bodies can coordinate sufficiently if they are not joined together. This action's instructions to evaluate that situation will hopefully resolve these questions and further define American cybersecurity in the future.

August 16
H.R.2210: To Designate The Community Living Center of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Butler Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania, As The "Sergeant Joseph George Kusick VA Community Living Center"
What It Will Do: This bill does exactly and exclusively what it says in the title.
Who It Will Affect: Butler County history buffs and those who knew Kusick will appreciate this gesture. A local of the regional town of Bruin, Kusick died when he heroically stayed behind during an evacuation after an ambush in Vietnam in 1967, despite being injured, in order to man a radio link to help complete the retreat. The final helicopter on which he finally fled was then shot down; he was decorated for his service, becoming a local hero posthumously.

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H.R.3218: Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017
What It Will Do: This bill provides for the largest expansion of the GI Bill, the post-WWII program providing education (and other) assistance to veterans, since 2008's Post-9/11 GI Bill. This bill is informally known as the Forever GI Bill, as it ends the old 15-year time limit on veterans using their education benefits with the goal of encouraging later-in-life education to improve veterans' lifelong workforce viability.

The bill also extends education benefits to Purple Heart recipients, regardless of how much time they served (they previously needed to have served at least three years to receive benefits) and military reservists and national guards deployed on active duty. It provides a slight increase in benefits to veterans with less than a year of active service under their belts. It expands eligibility for the Yellow Ribbon Program stabled by the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill. It increases education benefits to surviving family members or killed military personnel or to the dependents of disabled veterans eligible for them. It restores benefits to veterans who attend or attended schools that closed mid-term from 2015 on—like Corinthian Colleges and ITT—for the semester of education they were unable tom complete. It allocates more funding (up to $100 million a year), via a special one-year extension scholarship, for degrees related to science, technology, engineering, and math—fields for which only about 14 percent of recent vets have used their benefits. And it makes it easier to use benefits for distance courses in technical fields.

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The bill provides more resources for claims processing (especially tech-based solutions to make it easier and more efficient) and for Department of Veterans Affairs training for college staffers who file the paperwork to confirm students are enrolled. It pays for all of these programs and expansions by slightly reducing monthly housing alliances for new GI Bill benefits enrollees.
Who It Will Affect: As with most veterans' rights legislation, this was a bipartisan and broadly supported bill, pushed for years by veteran's service organizations and higher education institutions. It promises to bring more veterans into education throughout their lives, ideally helping with reintegration into society and their lifelong workforce competitiveness, as well as with the quality of the skilled American workforce overall. The bill was briefly stalled over disagreements about how its benefits, the largest expansion of veterans' education payments in a decade, should be paid for. But there seems to be widespread support for the final bill.

August 15
Executive Order 41: Establishing Discipline and Accountability in the Environmental Review Permitting Process for Infrastructure
What It Will Do: This order is basically the more concrete sequel to Trump's second executive order, issued on January 24, which told everyone in charge of environmental reviews and permits for major infrastructure projects to speed things up.

Here, Trump explicitly calls (in incredibly complex and circuitous language) for all environmental reviews and permitting for major infrastructure projects to be completed within at most two years. Individual permits are to be issued within 90 days, provided there is sufficient information to make a decision, though 90-day extensions will be granted in some cases. Trump aims to facilitate this by putting a point person from one primary agency in charge of overseeing each project, navigating and coordinating permitting across other agencies on behalf of the sponsors of the project, which he calls the "One Federal Decision" approach.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Committee (FPISC), the latter a body created under Obama in 2015 but which Trump has seemingly tried to take credit for in recent months, are ordered to create a plan for cross-agency permit process coordination and predictability. Federal agencies with potential environmental review or permitting duties are instructed to adjust their plans to be consistent with the OMB-FPISC report. Agencies will also be responsible for tracking progress on every project they and updating permitting and review timelines for them all at least once per quarter. In the future, the OMB and FPISC will issue guidelines for new accountability systems holding agencies to new coordination standards

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The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), in addition to being instructed to generally help the OMB and FPISC implement these policies, is tasked with developing a list of actions to modernize environmental reviews—read: speed them up—within 30 days of this action. It is also tasked with mediating disputes between agencies in navigating this action's provisions.

The Departments of Agriculture and of the Interior are instructed to be the lead agencies in plans to identify, design, and facilitate new energy project development corridors, which will receive expedited environmental reviews. Interior is further tasked with providing the OMB with strategies and ideas for what that can be done to reorganize federal agencies and multi-agency approaches to better achieve this order's goals, and to harmonize these recommendations with those related to Trump's broad March 13 executive order on reorganizing the executive branch.
The order additionally says that the FPISC will now receive personnel, budget, and procurement support from the General Services Administration, unless the OMB decides otherwise.

And as almost an afterthought, this order revokes Obama's 2015, executive order that established new standards for building projects receiving federal funds in flood-prone areas. These Obama standards take climate change and attendant rising sea levels into consideration in order to reduce the cost of repair and rebuilding after crises in the future. No reason is given for this revocation in the text.
Who It Will Affect: Business groups, broadly, love this order as they have long complained about duplicative review and permitting processes—facts Trump brought up as proof of regulatory chaos and overstep at a (disastrous) press conference on the order the day it was signed. Trump maintains that reducing these regulatory barriers will make infrastructure spending more attractive to private actors, as well as speeding up the development of projects that can help American commerce, creating trickle-down economic benefits to American families.

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However, environmental groups worry new timelines will encourage cutting corners in environmental reviews and other forms of oversight and limit the time for communities to raise concerns about projects being built near them. Some experts also wonder if this overhaul will actually be able to accelerate projects, as they argue state and local approval processes that Trump cannot change lead to a lot of the delays. And while the Department of Transportation argues that this deregulation will help to attract private infrastructure funding, a draft report out this year from the Department of the Treasury said that a lack of public funding is the most significant barrier to the development of new transit and water infrastructure projects. Democrats have also questioned the merits of this overhaul when streamlining processes had already been enacted into law in 2012 and 2015, but had not yet been fully implemented as of this year.

Although key business groups approve of Trump's revocation of Obama's flood planning order, as it will speed up their projects and keep their costs down, this unexpected move has drawn criticism from environmental groups and conservation organizations. This year, scientists from 13 federal agencies reported that they expected sea levels to rise an average of a foot by 2050, with more severe impacts in certain areas. That could result in a lot of damage to infrastructure, and thus a lot more spending on repairs.

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This action seems to reflect Trump's disbelief in climate change, focus on appeasing business interests, and dedication to unraveling the Obama legacy as an end in and of itself.

Presidential Memorandum 51: Notice Regarding the Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Export Control Regulations
What It Will Do: In 1979, Congress passed the Export Administration Act, the latest in a series of laws giving the president control over certain export levels and protocols in the service of national security, foreign policy management, and the promotion of American economic interests. These powers are fairly standard by now, having only been slightly tweaked from previous statutory regimens dating back to 1917. But the EAA of 1979 had an expiration date. From 1984 to 1985, Ronald Reagan had to use the 1977 International Emergency Powers Act to keep the EAA in force for a year, claiming that stripping the presidency of these explicit powers would put the nation at risk, as Congress had not re-approved this regimen or passed a replacement law. The EAA was reauthorized the next year, but eventually lapsed again. Since 2001, a continuous chain of presidents has used the IEPA to re-up the continuation of this export control regime without congressional approval by executive fiat. This is Trump's first of many re-ups, preserving the EAA for another year before it could fall out of force on August 17.

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Who It Will Affect: Practically no one, as this just maintains a 38-year-old status quo.

August 14
Presidential Memorandum 50: For the United States Trade Representative [Regarding A Potential Investigation of China and American Technology and Intellectual Property Integrity]
What It Will Do: This action asks the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to determine whether or not he should launch a probe into Chinese laws or practices that may be siphoning off or otherwise undermining American businesses' intellectual property and other trade secrets.
Who It Will Affect: There's a longstanding and well -supported narrative in the US business world about how the Chinese government uses its control over markets, as well as espionage, to compel foreign companies into handing over trade secrets, or just stealing them. This concern is especially acute for American automotive, energy, and telecom firms, who have to partner with Chinese firms to enter Chinese markets, and in the process fork over the details of their tech and methods. Silicon Valley companies are also required of late to host data centers dealing with Chinese operations in China and allow the state access to them.

The independent Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property released a report this claiming that China is the top offender against American IP, costing America's economy up to $600 billion per year; the US Department of Commerce estimated that in 2014 our IP leadership accounted for up to 40 percent of the national economy—so this is a dire issue. But for fear of retaliation and out of desire to play in the Chinese market, most American businesses have publicly kept silent on this, taken few practical countermeasures, and gone along with it.

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Naturally, this action has drawn widespread praise. However, the document was clearly watered down—it was expected that Trump would order the report rather than ask the USTR to determine whether a report should be done—and was reportedly delayed by a week. Although administration representatives say otherwise, Trump has clearly hinted this is due to America's continued nuclear standoff with North Korea and the need to court Chinese support to pressure the pariah state. Notably, Trump's previous two memoranda probing Chinese trade practices have not yet led to actions against the superpower either.

It may also be too late to do anything meaningful on this particular issue. Chinese IP theft was at its peak in the 1990s and early 2000s. But by now China is a tech powerhouse in its own right. Its citizens file twice as many patent applications as Americans, it spends as much on research and development as the US, and over the past couple of years it has ramped up IP protection to the point that it's becoming a leader in the field.

August 12
S.114: To Authorize Appropriations and to Appropriate Amounts for the Veterans Choice Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs, to Improve Hiring Authorities of the Department, to Authorize Major Medical Facility Leases, and for Other Purposes
What It Will Do: In 2014 the Department of Veterans Affairs instituted the Veterans Choice Program, allowing vets who live more than 40 miles from a VA healthcare facility, whose facilities lack specialists, or who have waited more than 30 days for treatment to be matched with private care providers for select services. This was a stopgap intended to buy the VA time to address chronic problems with long wait times. An earlier bill, S.544, extended this program from its August 7 sunset date until whenever cash ran out. But Veterans Choice was set to run out of cash soon—well before the VA had fixed its internal issues—because participation in the program has been expanding faster than anyone had predicted. This bill authorizes and appropriates $2.1 billion dollars to keep the program running a little while longer.

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This bill also contains a host of provisions intended to help solve the VA's chronic understaffing; there are currently 49,000 vacancies at the agency, many of them in medical services. It emphasizes training programs, the promotion of technical experts, and new, hopefully more efficient ways of filling empty positions. It requires the agency's secretary to, within 120 days, develop and implement a plan to hire qualified directors for long-vacant medical positions in the agency, and to update Congress regularly. Hiring and workforce improvement provisions are bolstered by $1.4 billion in dedicated funding.

Finally, the bill provides $274 million for the VA to lease out 28 major medical facilities in 2018. All of the spending in the bill is to be paid for by trimming Medicaid pensions and collecting on agency housing loans, rather than cutting VA benefits as some had advocated.
Who It Will Affect: This bill ensures that numerous veterans can continue to receive quality and timely healthcare—at least into the next year. It also contains provisions likely to improve the staffing and overall organizational and managerial situation at the VA, which may begin to address some chronic problems with agency operations and services provisioning. These are uncontroversial steps. Veterans groups and some Democrats worry that extending the Choice program may point towards an impulse to privatize the VA's services, but commitments in this bill to staffing up the VA without cutting benefits or overhauling its services so Choice can wind down allays those fears.

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August 4
H.R.3298: Wounded Officers Recovery Act of 2017
What It Will Do: This bill allows the Capitol Police Board, which administers the body that protects Congress and its guests and visitors, to make payments from the US Capitol Police Memorial Fund to employees who have suffered serious injuries in the line of duty. The fund was originally created in 1998 to support the families of Capitol Police cops who were killed in a shooting. It also explicitly allows the board to pay out money donated in the wake of the June 14 shooting on a congressional baseball practice session. That shooting left two Capitol Police injured: David Bailey and Crystal Griner. The board is to establish its own rules for payout sums and eligibility regulations.
Who It Will Affect: This mostly affects Bailey and Griner, but will be of invaluable benefit to any future Capitol Police who find themselves injured in the line of duty in the future.

August 2
H.R.3364: Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act
What It Will Do: This is the big sanctions bill. It's drawn significant attention for provisions imposing limits on Trump and future presidents' abilities to de-escalate or lift sanctions against nations or individuals. This limitation was reportedly proximately motivated by reports that Trump was planning to return two Russian diplomatic compounds implicated in intelligence gathering and seized by the Obama administration in December as a punishment for Russian meddling in the 2016 elections. But more broadly, the bill is a bipartisan show of no confidence in Trump's competence or good faith when it comes to negotiating with other nations via sanctions. The limitations require Trump to provide Congress 30 days' notice (60 days near the August recess) of any intention to lift or relax sanctions. Congress already has the power to to effectively veto such actions, but this move makes sure there is time for Congress to review and vote on them, effectively limiting Trump's ability to act quietly or quickly in this realm.

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The bill also imposes new sanctions against Russia. It specifically enshrines in law sanctions imposed under Obama via executive orders and administrative actions. It also expands the list of individuals covered by these sanctions, imposes sanctions against the Russian intelligence and weapons sector to make exporting arms (especially to Syria) harder, opens the door to further sanctions against anyone participating in deals with the vital Russian energy sector, and limits US investment in Russian privatization deals. Additionally, it commissions reports on the status of oligarchs, effects of further sanctions expansions, and state of illicit finance in Russia and throws Congressional support into projects countering Russian influence in Eurasia.

This bill also slaps restrictions on American business with groups involved in work on the Iranian ballistics program and their business partners, steps up arms embargoes on Iran, and requires the imposition of terrorist activities–linked sanctions against Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps unit. Additionally, it opens the door to further sanctions against identified human rights abusers in the nation and calls for reports on the status of US citizens detained in Iran, the effect of current sanctions, and the prospects of sanctions coordination with other nations on Iran.

At the last moment, a hodgepodge of new sanctions against North Korea were added. It targets the North Korean shipping industry, anyone known to use North Korean forced or slave labor, and any financial institutions facilitating the flow of money into North Korea; it also expands the list of individuals covered by previous sanctions.
Who It Will Affect: Obviously, measures have a direct effect on the individuals, groups, and nations its sanctions target. But the extent of those effects (and the overall effectiveness of sanctions) is up for debate. All three nations have long been under some level of US sanctions and shown extreme resilience. The Russian stock market didn't even bat an eye at these new measures.

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No matter how much they feel their effects, the sanctions serve as a signal of ill will. North Korea has claimed a recent missile test was part of retaliations for the sanctions; more such response may follow. Iran believes these sanctions violate the deal under which it froze its nuclear program.

Russia has taken the hardest line in response, seizing two US properties, demanding the United States cut down its diplomatic staff in Russia, and promising further expulsions tit for tat with any American reductions of Russian diplomatic staff. Russia is using these sanctions to advance a national narrative in which America wants to choke off Russian oil and gas to advance the economic interests of its own energy sector.

The bill has also caused issues in the EU, which is not happy the US put sanctions on Russia without consulting Europe.

This law has also had a deep effect on Trump and may color his relationship with Congress moving forward. Trump reportedly considered vetoing this bill and has chafed at the limits to his power to revoke or loosen sanctions. This bill not only went against Trump's wishes, it was also the first major piece of legislation to come onto his desk as president.

It doesn't help that, by signing the bill, Trump has been forced to more openly admit that Russia may have played a role in the election that brought him to power than he ever has before. Aggravating Iran and North Korea won't help his foreign policy workload either.
For More: Trump calls sanctions bill unconstitutional, signs it anyway

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July 29
Presidential Memorandum 49: Notice Regarding the Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Lebanon
What It Will Do: America has been at odds with Hezbollah and related Iranian-backed and/or pro-Syrian groups in Lebanon since they emerged as a resistance movement during Israel's early 1980s occupation of that country's south. In 1995, America declared Hezbollah, by then operating as a controversial but ultimately legitimate political party in Lebanon, a foreign terrorist organization, imposing sanctions on them or any who would do business with them.

Then on August 1, 2007, amid signs of rising political tensions between Hezbollah and its supporters and a pro-Western Lebanese government, President George W. Bush used an executive order to declare a national emergency in Lebanon. He claimed individuals and groups arming Hezbollah, abetting Syrian influence in Lebanon , and otherwise challenging the sitting government were a threat to US interests in Lebanese sovereignty and regional stability. Using the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, his order imposed new sanctions freezing the assets and barring American transactions with anyone determined to be involved in or supporting these activities. Essentially, this provided a broader set of economic tools to strike against Hezbollah and its affiliates or supporters.

These new sanctions, under the provision of the 1977 IEEPA, require yearly renewals to stay in force. This action is Trump's statement that the situation in Lebanon that gave rise to these sanctions persists, and his decision to continue their status quo accordingly.
Who It Will Affect: Ultimately this just maintains policy that's been in place for a decade now—and that seems to have had little effect on Hezbollah or its supporters or affiliates to date.

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Presidential Memorandum 48: Letter from the President to the Congress of the United States [Regarding the Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Lebanon]
What It Will Do: Statute requires that, to continue Bush II-era sanctions tools against Hezbollah and its supporters and affiliates for another year, as Trump does in the above action, he has to issue another memorandum informing Congress of his intention to do so. This is that.

July 26
Presidential Proclamation 59: [Proclaiming] July 27, 2017, As National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day
What It Will Do: This is an annual presidential duty that marks the July 27, 1953, cessation of hostilities between Chinese-backed North Korean forces and South Korea and 16 nations, including the US, fighting under the banner of the United Nations. Specifically, it honors the service of the 1.8 million Americans who served in the conflict. Trump's text notes (accurately) that this war is often forgotten, sandwiched as it was between World War II and the Vietnam War, and explicitly honors the 36,000 Americans confirmed dead in the conflict. He calls for appropriate ceremonies to commemorate their service. But his text also notes that North Korea, through its recent nuclear weapons and missile tests, still poses a threat to peace on the Korean peninsula and affirms his intentions of standing by its allies.
Who It Will Affect: As in previous years, veterans groups and other bodies across the nation will hold events honoring those who served in the conflict and marking peace on the peninsula. However beyond these usual and uncontroversial functions, Trump's rhetoric on North Korea in this year's proclamation—language absent in Obama's text last year—stresses how tense America's standoff with North Korea has become.

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July 25
Presidential Proclamation 58: [Proclaiming] July 26, 2017, As A Day in Celebration of The 27 th Anniversary of The Americans with Disabilities Act
What It Will Do: An annual presidential duty, this action commemorates the 1990 passage of the landmark anti-discrimination legislation. Trump's text claims that his administration is committed to fighting discrimination against those with disabilities, explicitly stating that the White House will encourage innovations in medicine and science to make it easier for those with disabilities to participate in the workforce. It also directs Americans to mark this anniversary as they see fit.
Who It Will Affect: Groups across the nation traditionally mark this day with marches, rallies, speeches, and other events. However this year's celebrations will likely be marked by anxiety or consternation, fueled by the recognition that Trump's claims in this action are empty platitudes masking a blatant disregard and disrespect for the ADA and those it seeks to protect.

While campaigning in 2015, Trump notoriously mocked a disabled reporter, mimicking his physical impairment in front of a crowd. His real estate developments and casting calls for The Apprentice had a long history of blatantly and at times excessively egregiously disregarding ADA requirements. In 2016, Trump attempted to claim that he'd done more than anyone else for people with disabilities, but he was essentially demanding praise for the times when he did adhere to ADA requirements, a.k.a. following the law. As soon as Trump took power, his White House removed its web pages related to disability rights and opportunities, and ended its audio tours for the blind.

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And of course the healthcare plan Trump backs is seen as disastrous, even life-threatening, by millions of disabled Americans. Right around the time Trump was signing this action, numerous disabled Americans were arrested while protesting a Senate vote to open debate on a Republican healthcare plan. Similar protests have seen many other disabled Americans dragged out of wheelchairs, pulled away, knocked over, or otherwise assaulted for defending their right to life and human dignity against Trumpian policies—and we've heard nary a peep from the White House defending their political rights and physical integrity. Trump and his cronies have advanced a number of other policies, or failed to enforce others, that will inevitably harm the disabled community—including limiting their participation in the workforce.

Even the language of this text can be read to imply that Trump believes the disabled are best served by finding ways to medically or scientifically cure or cancel out their disabilities, rather than accommodating or working with differently abled bodies—a core conceit of the ADA. His action certainly does not focus on elements of the ADA disability rights activists would like to see addressed, like improving regulatory or oversight frameworks around its enforcement.

July 21
Executive Order 40: Assessing and Strengthening the Manufacturing and Defense Industrial Base and Supply Chain Resiliency of the United States
What It Will Do: This action begins by arguing that, since 2000, about 60,000 factories have closed in and five million manufacturing jobs have vanished from America, and that a number of vital products for national defense are now only available through one source, or via fragile supply chains. The text argues this means that America's preparedness for any sort of crisis is not what it should be. To rectify this perceived systemic fragility, this action calls for the Secretary of Defense, working with the Secretaries of Commerce, Energy, Homeland Security, and Labor, all consulting with the Secretaries of Health and Human Services and the Interior, the Directors of the National Intelligence Agency, Office of Management and Budget, Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, and the Assistants to the President for Economic Policy and for National Security, and any others they all deem fit to loop in, to draft a report on American manufacturing and the defense industrial base and supply chain within 270 days.

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The report's scope is exceptionally wide. It's meant to identify every item relevant to national security, the capabilities necessary to manufacture or procure them all, the contingencies that could realistically disrupt that procurement or manufacture in the short or long terms, how resilient each aspect of this massive supply chain and product base would be to each disruption, and how easily a disrupted chain or process could be replaced. The report will also recommend legislative, policy, or regulatory adjustments that the president or various federal agencies can pursue to mitigate any disruptive contingencies or strengthen resiliency against them.
Who It Will Affect: Team Trump is touting this as the first-ever systematic and government-wide review of America's defense industrial base. This is good messaging for Trump, as it combines his popular rhetoric about bolstering US manufacturing with his popular rhetoric on military strength, showing a double-proof sign of action to his base. However, this text likely invents or plays up a problem to generate that image of foresight and accomplishment. While America has lost many manufacturing jobs and sites, productivity remains exceptionally strong as manufacturing has grown more automated and efficient. Defense analysts also argue that while elements of the supply chain may look weak, they are more resilient than they seem. This report could identify a few shortcomings and present valid solutions to them. But it's just as likely to yield less of substance than the hype around it would suggest.

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July 20
Presidential Memoranda 46 and 47: Notice of Withdrawal Regarding the Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Transnational Criminal Organizations [and] A Message to the Congress of the United States [Regarding the Same]
What They Will Do: These actions rescind memoranda 45 (see below) and notify Congress of such an action as required under law. This isn't Trump going back on his continuation of Obama's anti-criminal organization sanctions, though. The memoranda immediately replace Trump's old text with a replacement that accomplishes the same thing but uses slightly different language. This may matter on an esoteric procedural level, but does not in substance.
Who They Will Affect: See memoranda 44 and 45.

July 19
Executive Order 39: Establishing a Presidential Advisory Council on Infrastructure
What It Will Do: This creates the Council mentioned in its title, placing that body under the managerial auspices of the Department of Commerce. It outlines that the council will be composed of at most 15 members, appointed by the president, from outside of the government, all of whom must have experience in communications technology, construction, environmental policy, finance, real estate, regional or local economic development, transportation and logistics, and/or any other areas the president deems appropriate. All of these individuals shall serve without compensation, save for ad hoc expenses and per diems. The Council is to have two co-chairs, also selected from its ranks by the president, who may in turn appoint one or more vice-chairs as they see fit.

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The Council is tasked with studying the scope and effectiveness of current government funding for aviation, broadband, electricity transmission, port and waterway, renewable energy, transit, water resources, and other infrastructure projects. It is also tasked with making recommendations to the president on how to improve federal support for infrastructure projects, with a focus on how to accelerate pre-construction approvals, develop new funding options, increase public-private partnerships, and generally streamline the regulatory environment. It is likewise tasked with identifying best practices and opportunities for resource procurement, grant procedures, project delivery, and finding ways to promote advanced manufacturing and technological innovation related to infrastructure development. The Secretary of Commerce is directed to submit other questions to the Council for consideration and investigation within 60 days of this action.

All the Council's findings and recommendations on these issues are to be compiled into a report, to be given to the president. The exact deadline for that report is not specified. However, the Council is to disband by December 31, 2018, unless it needs more time to compile that report. It's also instructed to disband within 60 days of issuing a report if it gets done earlier than that.
Who It Will Affect: Like most of Trump's broad asks for reports from newly minted councils, this action doesn't do very much, save set a few people to unpaid work. That work will either yield actual policy proposals down the line, or meander on, going nowhere, and coming to nothing. In the short term, though, this action is clearly an echo of Trump's recent theme weeks, including Infrastructure Week at the start of June, all of which are meant to draw popular attention to topics on which Trump usually polls well or has a good (if undeserved) reputation—at least with his base. Ironically, the search for policy to support infrastructure embedded in this Council's tasks suggests that Trump, despite all his bluster about a $1 trillion infrastructure plan (which has yet to emerge), doesn't have a really solid and comprehensive approach to the issue after all. As such, this action will boost Trump's ego and base support, but reaffirm his ineptitude to others.

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Presidential Memorandum 45: Regarding the Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Transnational Criminal Organizations
What It Will Do: In July 2011, then-President Obama issued an executive order that declared transnational criminal organizations like drug cartels a threat to national security and used the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to freeze their assets in the US, along with those of anyone determined to be conspiring with them. This measure went beyond existing sanctions provisions against drug kingpins, widening economic penalties available against organized criminal outfits. However, that action needed to be renewed annually for its tools to stay in effect. This memorandum is Trump's first annual renewal of said policy; his text argues that these groups still pose a threat to the nation through their facilitation of illegal acts and violence and abetting of conflicts and other violent actors.
Who It Will Affect:This action just maintains a six-year-old sanction tool—and the status quo.

Presidential Memorandum 44: A Message to the Congress of the United States [Regarding the Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Transnational Criminal Organizations]
What It Will Do: US law requires that, to continue Obama-era sanctions tools against transnational criminal organizations for another year, as Trump does in the above action, he has to issue another memorandum informing Congress of his intention to do so. This is that.
Who It Will Affect: See above.

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July 17
Presidential Proclamation 57: [Proclaiming] July 17, 2017, As Made in America Day and This Week, July 16 through July 22, As Made in America Week
What It Will Do: This action does pretty much just what it says and no more. The text notes that this day and week honor the role of American workers, jobs, and innovation in developing iconic objects and products (from the New York skyline to beef to GPS—seriously, those are some examples Trump gives) and for helping to develop America. It's all extremely broad and vague. But it's a wide vehicle for Trump to reaffirm his administration's stated devotion to renegotiating trade deals across the globe to bring manufacturing back to the US and open new markets to US-made products and to cutting taxes and regulations to (in team Trump's view) encourage innovation and job growth.
Who It Will Affect: Short on concrete details or plans for action or observation, it's more aggressive showmanship intended to highlight one of the issues Trump's team thinks plays with his base and potential supporters. As with past issue-focused weeks, this refocusing pivot is clearly meant to distract from Trump's worsening Russia scandal woes. But while this stagecraft may play well with those who buy into Trump's trade and manufacturing rhetoric, it also highlights the fact that Trump and his family's companies and products rely heavily on foreign goods and labor. It also risks highlighting just how underwhelming Trump's actions have been in comparison to his rhetoric on trade to date, despite promising some tariffs on steel and issuing his main points for renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement on the same day he issued this proclamation.

July 14
Presidential Proclamation 56: [Proclaiming] July 16 through July 22, 2017, As Captive Nations Week
What It Will Do: This is an annual presidential duty dating to 1959, when President Dwight Eisenhower decided the US should show its solidarity with nations in the orbit of the USSR. As such, it's a fundamentally Cold War-esque sentiment, framing the Soviet Union as a brutal, conquering force of illiberalism and oppression. While later presidents have tried not to make too much of it, the proclamation has endured past the Cold War as a vehicle for touting America's self-proclaimed moral superiority and status as a global defender of freedom and independence, and for calling out authoritarianism, human rights abuses, and general human suffering. Trump's text does just that—albeit very broadly—invoking platitudes like Ronald Reagan's "shining city on a hill" speech. It also instructs Americans to reaffirm our solidarity with "captive nations."
Who It Will Affect: This is usually an innocuous action—if anachronistic and irksome to those who question American moralizing given our profoundly illiberal, undemocratic modern legacies around the globe. However this proclamation reads as especially ironic coming from Trump.

Rather than just turn a blind eye to human rights abuses around the world to cooperate with the authoritarian regimes on strategic goals, Trump has expressly praised and implicitly endorsing the actions of a number of particularly atrocious world leaders. Meanwhile he's done very little to even espouse human rights and freedom as moral goals or ideals.

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July 11
Executive Order 38: Allowing Additional Time for Recognizing Positive Actions by the Government of Sudan and Amending Executive Order 13761
What It Will Do: America has been at odds with Sudan ever since Colonel Omar al-Bashir seized control of the government in a 1989 Islamist military coup. In 1993 the US listed Sudan as a state sponsor of terror, a status that imposed sanctions, due to its hosting of Osama bin Laden. Sanctions were ratcheted up dramatically via a 1997 executive order, strengthened by another in 2006, making it all but impossible for America and Sudan to trade with each other or for those in Sudan to access international financial tools.

However, after decades of harsh sanctions some in the US and beyond have begun to doubt whether completely ostracizing Sudan is having the desired effect. Sudan has also been forced to reassess its actions as the nation's economy has suffered greatly since the loss of the bulk of its oil fields during the secession of South Sudan in 2011; acquiescence to pressure from the US in exchange for greater access to trade and financial resources has grown attractive.

In January the Obama administration decided to lift some sanctions on the nation, in recognition of Sudan's working with the US against terror groups and lessening its military aggression. Issued with the then-incoming Trump administration's reported approval, Barack Obama's executive order implementing this thaw stipulated that this easement could become permanent if, by July 12, the al-Bashir regime showed progress in further reducing military aggression against its people, pledged to cease its internal conflicts, addressed regional conflicts proactively, made provisions for better internal access to humanitarian aid, and improved its counterterrorism cooperation with the US.

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In this order, Trump delays that report and presidential decision (at the last minute) from July 12 to October 12 and revokes requirements for follow-up reports, essentially ducking the decision.
Who It Will Affect: Opponents of the thawing of Sudanese sanctions have applauded this move, arguing that Sudan has not yet adequately reduced its internal aggression or improved access to humanitarian aid. They believe this time should be used to strengthen or better define Obama's requirements for sanctions relief, especially to include more explicit mention of human rights issues. However for the Trump administration the delay may have been less a principled stance and more a reflection of limited capacity and an aversion to potential criticism. The Trump administration has yet to fill many key Africa policy positions and has reportedly not developed a clear approach to Sudan.

Presidential Memorandum 43: A Message to the Congress of the Untied States [Regarding Executive Order 38]
What It Will Do: This action literally just fulfills a statutory duty, requiring that the president notify Congress directly of his intention to make the changes outlined in Executive Order 38.
Who It Will Affect: See Executive Order 38.

June 30
Executive Order 37: Reviving the National Space Council
What It Will Do: The National Space Council was formed in 1958 to help coordinate America's emerging space policy, and especially to devise moonshot goals to one-up the Soviet Union—literally, the council fed John F. Kennedy the idea of putting a man on the moon. But soon after America hit that goal in 1969, the council influence waned. It stopped meeting in 1973, and though George H.W. Bush revived it in 1989, it stopped meeting once more after he left office in 1993. It's been functionally dead—although it was never officially disbanded—for 24 years.

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This action revives the council. Its composition will similar to that of the council under Bush, but leans more heavily on security than civilian science officials. It will review and develop long-term space goals, monitor and coordinate their implementation, and facilitate better communication and cooperation between civil, military, and private space endeavors. The council will meet at least once a year. Within a year of this action, and annually thereafter, it will issue a report to the president on its positions and progress; the chair will liaise with the president at least four times a year on the activities of the council.
Who It Will Affect: In the past, the council was not exactly beloved by members of the various agencies it coordinated, which apparently saw it as stifling oversight of their activities and needless bureaucracy. But this revival, which Trump has been promising since March, is broadly seen as good and necessary. The space environment has grown endlessly complex with the rise of private commercial ventures and coordination between these new actors, and even between state agencies, has not been stellar. Reforming the council ostensibly signals a renewed dedication to space exploration, something Trump seems to see as linked to American grandeur and prestige.

But it remains to be seen how dedicated Trump is to space-related policies. Notably, this action was signed with little notice or fanfare—untelevised and just before a holiday weekend. That's not a sign of prioritization; it's checking a chore off a list to make one's self feel productive in a stressful time. Trump has yet to appoint a NASA administrator or Office of Science and Technology Policy director, two key seats. Space industry insiders were puzzled by the individuals who attended the signing, who seemed to represent traditional space business interests and not the innovators or government scientists many agree need to be talking to move exploration forward. That composition raises serious questions about who exactly Trump thinks should be influencing the Council, and what he hopes it will achieve.

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H.R.1238: Securing our Agriculture and Food Act
What It Will Do: This act tweaks the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to make the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Health Affairs responsible for coordinating a departmental approach to defending America's food, agriculture, and veterinary sectors against terrorism.

Who It Will Affect: Although America has not witnessed any recent acts of food system terror, the criticality and potential vulnerability of this sector to something like a biological attack (for instance, with a weaponized crop or livestock pathogen) has made it a matter of industry and bipartisan political concern for years. The basic act of putting someone on point to defend against this real possibility is a pretty straightforward move.

June 29
Presidential Proclamation 55: To Modify Duty-Free Treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences and for Other Purposes
What It Will Do: This supremely wonky technical action lays out Trump's justifications for imposing new tariffs and revoking special duty-free status on certain goods from certain countries and for correcting what he claims are certain technical errors in America's Harmonized Tariff Schedule created by previous actions. The specific tariffs and tweaks are included in annexes that do not yet appear on the White House's website, making the practical and specific effects of this broad proclamation hard to articulate.
Who It Will Affect: Regardless of which items and countries this affects, this action is part of Trump's pivot back towards trade this week. His team has adopted a much more explicitly nativist policy after weeks of infighting between pro- and anti-globalist advisors, albeit this new nativism is more limited than it could have been.

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Presidential Memorandum 42: For the Secretary of Commerce: Delegation of Authority under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998
What It Will Do: This delegates authority from the president to the Secretary of Commerce for preparing reports, required under section 1211 of the NDAA for FY 1998, detailing and justifying any changes to the rules for exporting or re-exporting certain especially high-powered computers to certain specified countries.
Who It Will Affect: This is a pretty wonky matter. It seems mainly to be just the transfer of more governance away from Trump and onto his cabinet and other advisors.

Presidential Memorandum 41: For The Secretary of Homeland Security: Delegation of Authority under the Department of State Authorities Act, Fiscal Year 2017
What It Will Do: This action delegates the president's duty, under section 710 of the bill cited in its title, to issue a report to relevant congressional committees within 90 days of the law's enactment on existing and future strategies to combat terrorist organizations' use of social media. This, and any future similar reports, are now the Secretary of Homeland Security's duty.
Who It Will Affect: Mostly it's just more work for the Department of Homeland Security. But it's also another signal, much like Trump's last memorandum, that the man who convinced his followers he knew how to handle America's enemies isn't actually that interested in dealing with them and is content to delegate.

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June 27
S.1083: A Bill to Amend Section 1214 of Title 5, United States Code, to Provide for Stays during a Period That the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) Lacks a Quorum
What It Will Do: This measure makes a tiny tweak to the US Code to allow just what it says it will in its title. The MSPB is a quasi-legal body created in 1979 to review claims that firings or long-term suspensions have occurred for political, personal, or otherwise non-meritocratic reasons. The bill ultimately seeks to make it easier for cases to receive stays, when requested by the Office of Special Counsel, when (as at present) the MSPB is not fully staffed to give federal employees longer to have their cases heard.
Who It Will Affect: This measure will likely be welcome news to any federal workers trying to argue that they were wrongly terminated. It does seemingly fly in the face of Trump's push to make it easier and faster to fire federal employees in the name of efficiency. It is more likely that this measure is a response to a particular reality recognized by Congress, which has a long track record of protecting whistleblowers, rather than some direct rebuke to the administration.

June 23
S.1094: Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act
What It Will Do: This bill takes a number of steps to increase protections for whistleblowers in the Department of Veterans Affairs while simultaneously making it easier to fire employees. Both moves are intended as correctives to the department following scandals that emerged (thanks to whistleblowers) in 2014 about unduly long and sometimes fatal wait times and employee attempts to cover them up. These scandals have been addressed by a number of subsequent bills and policies. But the VA is still notoriously plagued with service and efficiency issues.

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The first portion of the bill establishes an Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection, to be headed by a new presidential appointee position within the VA, an assistant secretary working directly under the department's secretary. This official and his or her office will have no other duties to distract them in their mission to develop new disclosure policies and protective guarantees for whistleblowers and trainings on how to handle them within the department. The office will also hear whistleblower complaints against all levels of officials within the VA and work to increase responsiveness to the issues they bring to light.

The second portion of the bill shortens the period of time for senior executive or civil servant appeals of firings or disciplinary actions. The burden of evidence to back a disciplinary action or termination decision during these appeals is also lowered. The VA secretary is also granted authority to reduce the benefits of removed or retired employees who are or have been convicted of crimes, pending reviews of said decisions by an oversight body.
Who It Will Affect: Many observers see this bill as an improvement on earlier incarnations that did less to balance speedy terminations with protections against capricious or political motives and failed to provide enough supports whistleblowers. This legislative iteration received massive bipartisan support in Congress. Proponents believe the act's provisions will boost transparency within the department and improve the flow and accountability of a notoriously bureaucratically moribund institution that's had trouble disciplining flagrantly ineffective or improper employees in the past. However civil servant groups worry that the act will still make politically-motivated firings and discipline easier, deter the attraction of new talent into the department, and lower worker morale. They argue that time and resources would better be spent filling the tens of thousands of vacancies in department facilities nationwide and better funding their operations, rather than banking on the removal of a few bad apples to freshen up the whole sector.

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June 21
Executive Order 36: Amending Executive Order 13597
What It Will Do: This action deletes one section of Obama's January 19, 2012, executive order entitled "Establishing Visa and Foreign Visitor Processing Goals and the Task Force on Travel and Competitiveness." That section required that 80 percent of non-immigrant visa applicants should receive interviews within three weeks of the receipt of their application, recognizing that security considerations and the need to provide consular services to American citizens at embassies could scuttle that goal from time to time. The Trump administration has stated that scrapping this guideline will give them more freedom to expand vetting and take their time in evaluating the backgrounds of those who wish to travel to the United States.
Who It Will Affect: This action will likely extend the time it takes for many foreigners to receive travel, business, school, or other nonimmigrant visas to the United States. However it is unclear how much longer it will take and for which individuals.

Presidential Memorandum 40: For the Secretary of Defense—Delegation of Authority under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017
What It Will Do: This action delegates the responsibilities of the president under section 10,005 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017, i.e. the long-delayed 2017 fiscal year budget, to the Secretary of Defense. That section required the president to submit a plan to defeat ISIS to relevant congressional committees and then wait 15 days before $2.4 million in spending allocations would officially be opened up for use in that military endeavor.
Who It Will Affect: This act of delegation really only affects Secretary Jim Mattis and his staff. After boasting that he had a secret plan to defeat ISIS, Trump has delegated most practical authority over America's anti-ISIS operations to his generals.

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Presidential Memoranda 38 and 39 Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to North Korea [ And a Message to Congress on this Action ]
What It Will Do: This is Trump's first continuation of the provisions of a 2009 executive order, which has been amended several times (most recently in March 2016), imposing ever-increasing sanctions on North Korea and its operatives to try to dissuade them from developing their ballistic and nuclear weapons programs, direct threats to America and our East Asian allies. Under the National Emergencies Act of 1976, the authority under which the sanctions were imposed, these measures have to be renewed annually.
Who It Will Affect: Although technically this is just a continuation of existing policy, it packs some surprising umph, as North Korea, barreling ahead with nuclear tests despite sanctions, has quickly become Trump's foremost foreign policy challenge. The continuation of this policy also coincides with the return and subsequent death of Otto Warmbier, an American detained in North Korea for over a year. In this context of growing threat and discord, this continuation of policy draws even more attention to the issue.

Presidential Memoranda 36 and 37: Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to the Western Balkans [ And a Message to Congress on this Action ]
What It Will Do: This is Trump's first continuation of the provisions of a 2001 executive order, amended in 2003, that imposed sanctions on individuals involved in extremist violence or other actions that could jeopardize the peace process in the Balkans, following the regional conflicts of the 1990s. Under the National Emergencies Act of 1976, the authority under which the sanctions were imposed, these measures have to be renewed annually.

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Who It Will Affect: This is just Trump maintaining a course of action following up on a conflict that has long since left the popular consciousness. The action didn't even seem to inspire that much attention in the Western Balkans, honestly.

June 16
Presidential Memorandum 35: On Strengthening the Policy of the United States Toward Cuba
What It Will Do: This action orders 26 federal agency and department heads and key advisors to begin the process of peeling back some (but not all) of Obama's historic US-Cuban relations reset. The text opens with strong rhetoric decrying Cuba's broad human rights abuses, claiming that moving back toward greater restrictions will help the Cuban people to prosper. The memorandum's preamble also makes it clear that this is just an initial action; further policy shifts may still come.

The text orders the US government to adjust regulations to preclude commercial transactions with the Cuban intelligence, military, and security complex or any of its affiliate organizations and personnel. (That's a big deal, as these bodies control or are woven into an estimated 50 to 60 percent of the nation's economy.) Government agencies are also instructed to create a list of all entities under this category for Americans' commercial reference. Trump notes that the secretaries should, as they propose or execute policy adjustments, carve out a few exceptions to this broad prohibition for select deals related to agriculture, communications, pro-democracy initiatives, medical goods, remittances transactions, transit logistics, security-related arrangements (such as the continued leasing of Guantanamo Bay), and anything else that seems pertinent.

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Trump also instructs the treasury secretary, in consultation with the secretary of state, to start adjusting rules and regulations to ratchet up enforcement of the extant ban on US tourism to Cuba. America has long allowed some travel to Cuba, but usually only with state permission and often through organized groups. Obama's thaw did not legalize tourism, but allowed people to plan "educational" trips to the island as individuals, which functionally opened a tourism spigot. This section of the memorandum explicitly targets that permissiveness, asking the secretaries to better define legitimate educational travel. The secretaries are also to begin requiring travelers to keep full and records of all of their financial transactions on the island for five years after a trip for potential federal travel and spending restriction compliance audits. As a capstone to these renewed travel restrictions, the secretaries of commerce, state, transportation, and the treasury are ordered to review enforcement of legal limits on outright Cuban tourism over the next 90 days.

Beyond these major shifts, the secretary of the treasury is to adjust regulatory definitions on who qualifies as a member, employee, or affiliate of the Cuban regime. The secretary of state and America's representative to the United Nations are instructed to oppose any pressures in international bodies or forums to end the US embargo on Cuba. There are also requests for reports about Cuban human rights abuses, American fugitives living in Cuban, and the advancement of US interests on the island.

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Finally, a slew of federal agencies and departments are instructed to form a task force alongside the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (America's Cuba-targeted media stream) and various NGOs and private sector actors to assess challenges facing and opportunities for the expansion of internet access in Cuba.
Who It Will Affect: The Trump administration insists this will help the Cuban people by limiting the flow of American wealth to the Cuban regime and making sure that what cash does come into the nation goes to private citizens and free enterprise. But a plethora of Cuba observers have noted that the explosion of US travel to Cuba under the thaw (which reportedly grew 74 percent from 2015 to 2016 and was set to double this year) has been one of the strongest engines for growth in the nascent Cuban private sector, itself opened fairly recently by Cuban president Raúl Castro.

Analysts and individuals in the Cuban tourism sector alike largely believe that new travel restrictions and audits will cut this boom short and pressure American visitors back toward large tour groups. These tour groups at times have ties to and are well controlled by Cuban government agents, are reportedly favored by the regime, and for the sake of regularity and reliability will likely bypass the small hotels, restaurants, bars, and other institutions that have in no small part defined private Cuban wealth and an emerging middle class over the past couple of years. It will also be difficult, given how deeply intertwined the state is with life in Cuba, for the Trump government to consistently and accurately define actors it may wish to blacklist.

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This policy may also hinder Cuban democracy. Although Trump has insisted America got nothing out of Obama's deal with Cuba, Raúl Castro actually increased internet access in the country, among other little concessions to freer speech and markets. (There have been moves in the other direction as well, such as an increase in political arrests.)

Trump's sudden reversal and harsh rhetoric has alienated the Cuban regime, spoiling hopes for continued incremental advances via diplomacy. Trump's clear favor for antiquated strong-arm tactics lends newfound credence to one of the Castro regime's strongest sources of legitimacy: resistance to American imperialism.

In truth this adjustment seems mostly targeted at bolstering Trump's popularity with Cuban American Republicans. During the 2016 campaign he promised to wholly eliminate Obama's deal, which he described as entirely one-sided in Cuba's favor.

Writ short, this action is a bid at destroying the Obama legacy as an end in and of itself, and at bolstering the Trump brand by seemingly delivering on a campaign promise to a tiny sector of America. It's making a ton of noise to telegraph action, while doing little of substance and potentially spoiling much in the process. It's classic Trumpain governance.

June 15
Executive Order: Expanding Apprenticeships in America
What It Will Do: This aims to drastically increase the number of apprenticeships America and improve the quality and efficiency of federal workforce development programs. Trump hopes this will help close a skills gap—the issue is that it's hard to match the under- and unemployed with training that they need to fill America's 6 million vacant jobs. Trump's text explicitly notes that the nation has 350,000 manufacturing jobs that often require skills that are hard to find among job seekers.

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The order instructs the secretary of the Department of Labor to come up with regulations to incentivize businesses and trade and industry groups to develop new apprenticeships. Since 1937, the federal government has played a major role in crafting the parameters and guiding the development of apprenticeships. This move gives business groups more autonomy in determining how to structure these programs using their own standards, which will be reviewed and approved as quickly as possible by the feds.

It also creates a Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion to be chaired by the secretary of Labor and made up of 20 appointed representatives of business, education, trade, industry, and labor union groups. Commerce and Labor are instructed to try to incentivize programs in the cybersecurity, healthcare, infrastructure, and manufacturing sectors especially.

Within two years, Labor is supposed to develop an Excellence in Apprenticeship Program to recognize and commend those business and industry players who make progress in developing programs. The department will also use whatever funds it can to it to promote apprenticeships. The Secretary of Education is instructed to encourage two- and four-year colleges to increase student participation in apprenticeships, while other departments are instructed to promote apprenticeship participation among high schoolers, current and former inmates, armed services members and veterans, and others.

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The order does not specify the number of apprenticeships it hopes to create or the funds it wants funneled to its goals. But in the lead-up to the signing of the order, Trump claimed he wants to see 5 million apprenticeships created over the next ten years and $200 million in grant money directed to those ends by the Department of Labor. The department now has $90 million in its budget allocated towards these ends; the rest is to be reallocated from other of its funds.

When it comes to the second function of the order, making workforce development and training programs more efficient, the text is more brief—and slightly more stick than carrot. Each of the 13 federal agencies operating the government's 43 national programs is instructed to evaluate the efficacy of its programs at placing job seekers into jobs, ideally using third-party evaluators, unless it has already carried out a recent evaluation. In their 2019 budget requests to the Office of Management and Budget, these agencies will have to report on their programs' efficacies and outcomes, recommending administrative or legislative reforms to improve them or offering to eliminate ineffective or redundant programs. These evaluations will be factored into the development of the Trump administration's fiscal year 2019 budget.

Who It Will Affect: Pretty much everyone agrees that developing more apprenticeships and improving worker training are vital goods. Apprenticeships in particular have a strong track record for employment and increased lifetime earnings. It was actually Obama who brought federal focus back to the issue in 2014 after a long lapse of attention; he created the first programmatic grant funding for these programs, on which Trump is now building.

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However, Obama's policies only got America up to 505,371 apprenticeships in 2016, from 350,000 in 2010. That's still just 0.3 percent of America's workforce, compared to other Western countries where apprenticeships make up between 2 and 4 percent of the national workforce. Completion rates for these programs are still low and they are still heavily concentrated in construction and manufacturing, despite a known need in fields like agriculture and information technology. Apprenticeship awareness and development is a bipartisan and well-known issue; Hillary Clinton and the Democrats made it a priority in 2016.

But while the general idea is popular, it's hard to ignore how scant on details this order is. Trump seems to believe he can massively expand apprenticeships by reducing restrictions and opening up freedom for businesses to act. And industry groups have applauded him for this. But skeptics note that businesses have always been free to develop unregulated apprenticeships, yet few have taken the initiative in the past.

Keen Trump observers have also noticed that this move is a bit of an about-face for the president. Back in March, Trump's 2018 budget proposal only boosted apprenticeship spending to $95 million, not $200 million as here, while slashing job training programs by 40 percent as part of a one-fifth cut to the Department of Labor. It also took away $1 million in grants directed specifically at incentivizing women's participation in apprenticeships. Combined with the fact that Trump's 5 million new apprenticeship goal may have come from an on-the-spot response to a challenge by the CEO of Salesforce.com in March, critics may rightfully wonder how much thought Trump has put into this push.

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June 14
H.R.657: Follow the Rules Act
What It Will Do: Until recently, the Whistleblower Protection Act only protected federal workers from retribution when they refused to obey a superior's orders if doing so would have required them to break a law. This act tweaks a few words in the US Code to extend that protection to workers refusing orders that would force them to break rules and regulations, too.
Who It Will Affect: This seems like a tiny and overly semantic tweak. But it stems directly from at least one legal case in which the courts decided that a whistleblower wasn't protected for refusing to break a rule or regulation rather than a law under the old wording. So this tweak was necessary and will likely help whistleblowers throughout the government. This tiny tweak is actually part of a long tradition of Congress incrementally increasing whistleblower protections in the name of transparency and propriety when they realize the courts are not as liberal as they would like in their interpretations of existing laws and their spirit.

Presidential Proclamation 53: [Proclaiming] June 14, 2017, as Flag Day, and This Week as National Flag Week
What It Will Do: This is an annual presidential duty: Regular Flag Day proclamations date back to 1949 and regular Flag Week proclamations to 1966. Trump's text makes the usual perfunctory statements about the adoption of the stars and stripes as the United State's flag on June 14, 1777, and its importance as a symbol of our nation's values and the sacrifices made for them. However, Trump couldn't help but point out that Flag Day is also his birthday.
Who It Will Affect: Trump's proclamation instructs federal buildings to fly the national colors on Flag Day. And on Flag Week, he encourages all citizens to do the same on their residences.

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Presidential Memorandum 34: For the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence: [Regarding the] Effective Date in Executive Order 13780
What It Will Do: Trump's revised travel ban, issued on March 6, explicitly stated that its 90-day restrictions on travelers from six Muslim-majority nations and 120-day refugee program freeze would go into effect on March 16. Opponents of the ban have argued that even though courts have blocked the ban since before it could take effect, this means its Muslim nation traveler provisions expired on June 14; they claim the Department of Justice acknowledged this in a March 24 court filing. This, they say, should mean that key provisions of the order are moot and therefore there is no reason for the Supreme Court to hear a case on its legitimacy or consider lifting lower courts' bans on its implementation, as the administration requested it to this month.

This action is Trump's response to this criticism. It states that the blocks on elements of the order froze their effective dates as well. Unblocked elements of the order are authorized to move ahead, but the clock shall only start on the Muslim country travel and refugee program bans 72 hours after the injunctions against those provisions are lifted. (This 72-hour grace period is meant to avoid a sudden implementation and the attendant chaos the first version of the travel ban engendered back in January.)
Who It Will Affect: This move does increase the chance that the Supreme Court will chose to hear the case against the travel ban. However it does not completely eliminate the temporal challenges to the case's validity. On June 12, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals unblocked part of the executive order in question, allowing the administration to start its review of traveler, immigrant, and refugee vetting processes. The clock on this review process will, even under this action's provisions, run out by the time the Supreme Court would be able to hear the case. Since the travel and refugee bans were meant to be temporary pauses to free up time and resources to complete this review, this would arguably mean that these frozen actions would be moot by the time the Supreme Court case started. As such, there is still a cogent argument that the provisions and timing of the order could preclude it from being heard by the nation's highest court, effectively killing it. The Supreme Court, however, has yet to decide whether to hear the case.

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June 13
Presidential Memorandum 33: For the Secretary of Defense: Presidential Determination Pursuant to Section 433(a)(5) of the Defense Production Act of 1950 [Regarding National Security Critical Technology Items]
What It Will Do: Under the Defense Production Act of 1950, the president has the right to order the procurement or production of industrial resources or technology deemed critical for national security, so long as he informs other relevant governmental bodies of the fact in due time and order. This is Trump fulfilling that obligation, initiating the exploration of tech to make up for shortfalls in a hodgepodge of technical areas he has deemed relevant to national security. Namely: adenovirus vaccine production capabilities, high-strength fire- and ballistic-resistant co-polymer aramid fibers industrial capabilities, secure hybrid composite shipping container industrial capability, and three-dimensional ultra-high density microelectronics.
Who It Will Affect: This is a very routine, wonky action.

Presidential Memorandum 32: A Letter from the President to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, and the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs [Regarding America's Space Industrial Base]
What It Will Do: Another case of Trump fulfilling the obligations of the Defense Production Act. Namely, he's ordering the Department of Defense to identify ways to bolster our space structures and fibers, radiation hardened microelectronics, radiation testing and qualification facilities, and satellite components and assembly facilities.
Who It Will Affect: This is a pretty technical move, and one that will likely just affect the wonkier sectors of the US government's space programs. However it is another, if subtle, sign that Trump seems to have a soft spot for space exploration.
For More: Read about Trump's plans for space domination

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Presidential Memorandum 31: A Letter from the President to the Congress of the United States [Regarding a Continuation of a Declared National Emergency with Respect to Belarus]
What It Will Do: This is Trump's first continuation of the provisions of a 2006, executive order that imposed sanctions on Belarusian president Alyaksandr Lukashenka and members of his regime. Lukashenka has been in power in the Eastern European nation since 1994, and has been accused of suppressing dissent and political opposition and limiting human rights, with the economic support and implicit protective assurances of Russia. Under the National Emergencies Act of 1976, the authority under which the sanctions were imposed, these measures have to be renewed annually, and have been for over a decade by now three presidents.
Who It Will Affect: This action maintains an established course of US action towards one of the world's lesser-known authoritarian states.

June 6
H.R.366: DHS Stop Asset and Vehicle Excess (SAVE) Act
What It Will Do: The this is in large part a reaction to a 2015 report by the DHS's Inspector General finding that the Federal Protective Services unit of the department had radically mismanaged its transit fleet—in other words stocking more cars than it had agents and over-authorizing use. This misuse had cost taxpayers $2.5 million in waste in the 2014 fiscal year alone. So this act puts management of the DHS transit fleet in the hands of the department's under secretary for management, who will hopefully bring things under control. The Government Accountability Office is tasked with reporting on the under secretary's automation and data collection efforts and on any security concerns about the fleet.
Who It Will Affect: Ideally this will cut down on waste in the second-largest civilian vehicle fleet in the federal government. It's an uncontroversial good governance idea that garnered considerable bipartisan support.

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H.R.375: To Designate the Federal Building and United States Courthouse Located at 718 Church Street in Nashville, Tennessee, as the "Fred D. Thompson Federal Building and United States Courthouse"
What It Will Do: Exactly and exclusively what it says on the tin.
Who It Will Affect: Fans of Thompson will appreciate this move. A bizarre and impressive Tennessean, Thompson helped to uncover President Richard Nixon's secret Oval Office recordings for the Senate Watergate Committee, then broke into acting before running in 1994 for the Senate seat Tennessean Al Gore left vacant when he became vice president. In 2002, he left the Senate for a role as Arthur Branch, a Manhattan district attorney, on Law and Order before making a failed bid for the Republican presidential candidacy in 2008. He died of a recurrence of lymphoma in 2015, so this is a timely memorial.

June 2
S.583: American Law Enforcement Heroes Act of 2017
What It Will Do: This bill amends the 1968 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act to allow certain federal grant dollars for law enforcement agencies to be utilized to reach out to, hire, and retain military veterans as law enforcement officials.
Who It Will Affect: This is an utterly uncontroversial bill. It will earn some accolades for those who support opportunities for vets—which is to say just about every American—and find few detractors, if any.

S.419: Public Safety Officers' Benefits Improvement Act of 2017
What It Will Do: This act seeks to improve the efficiency and transparency of the process by which cops or their families obtain benefits for their education or for deaths or disabilities suffered in the line of duty. Although this process aims to resolve pending claims within a year, it reportedly fails to meet that deadline in over half of all cases, has gotten worse at hitting its targets over recent years, and has dozens of claims related to 9/11-related service hanging in limbo. Accordingly, the act modifies the 1968 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act to require that claims processors give heavy weight to evidence in favor of a claim form officers or agencies and ensure that they do full due diligence before neglecting any claims. It also requires that, within 30 days, the agency responsible for processing claims should start posing them (with anonymous ID tags) onto its website, updating the status of claims weekly. In 180 days, the agency is required to post a report to its website on the number of claims it has resolved over that period of time and to justify delays in resolving pending claims; a new version of this report must be posted online every 180 days. It also mandates that within two years the comptroller general of the United States should review some aspects of how the bureau manages its money.
Who It Will Affect: This is another bipartisan measure for which you'd be hard pressed to find an opponent. Few Americans will readily oppose ostensibly cost-neutral transparency or efforts to get benefits to those who have served their communities faster.

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June 1
Presidential Memorandum 30: For The Secretary of State [Regarding The Suspension of Limitations under the Jerusalem Embassy Act]
What It Will Do: In 1995 Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act, seeking to force the president to move America's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by 1999; if this was not done, the building budget for the State Department would automatically be chopped in half. The controversy comes from the fact that Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital, though its control of the eastern half of the city, seized during the Six-Day War of 1967, is highly contested. Palestine claims eastern Jerusalem as its own capital. As such, while some nations recognize Western Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, few have acknowledged the nation's overall claim and many keep their diplomatic services in Tel Aviv to avoid the perception of implicitly supporting Israel's claim to the whole city.

Given the tense geopolitical situation, the Jerusalem Embassy Act has never been enacted. Even presidents who have voiced support for the move, like Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, have repeatedly used a clause in the Act allowing them to delay the move past 1999 for six months with no repercussions to avoid the risks associated with the potential shift. This memorandum is just Trump continuing that delayed implementation. The text of the memorandum reaffirms his administration's commitment to moving the embassy eventually, and the decision to make the shift will roll around by December 1, 2017, requiring another yes-or-no memorandum.
Who It Will Affect: Given that Trump campaigned on moving the US embassy to Jerusalem particularly hard in 2016, his decision to shirk his first blatant opportunity to do so will irk some of his more pro-Israel supporters. This and his reticence to declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel while in the country on his first foreign trip will also displease hardliners within Israel, although government officials there have mostly shrugged the move off. Some may choose to read this as a sign that Trump and his team have recognized the tricky politics of moving the embassy and are moving with caution to find a way of making the complex local politics work.

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May 31
Presidential Proclamation 52: [Proclaiming] June 2017 As National Homeownership Month
What It Will Do: An annual presidential duty dating back to 2002, this proclamation recognizes the role of homeownership in the American Dream and the value of having a home as a source of wealth, security, and independence. Trump's text recognizes the recent dip in homeownership rates in the US (down to 63.6 percent of adults at the start of this year from 69.1 percent in 2005, at the height of the housing market). He claims that his administration will help more Americans fulfill their dreams of owning homes.
Who It Will Affect: Aspiring homeowners may appreciate the sentiments contained within Trump's proclamation. And they can make use of the resources and guidance events various government agencies and housing-related organizations provide throughout the month. But housing market analysts have long been dubious about just how much of a priority housing is for the Trump administration, and whether his economic policies would have a positive impact most homeowners and homeownership.

Presidential Proclamation 51: [Proclaiming] June 2017 As National Ocean Month
What It Will Do: An annual presidential duty dating back to 2007, this proclamation recognizes the importance of America's massive expanse of territorial waters, stretching 200 nautical miles off the US coast in any direction. Recent presidents have used this occasion to talk about the importance of environmentalism and oceanic stewardship to the sustainability of nature and our nation's ocean-based resources. But Trump's text pays only passing lip service to that idea and instead recasts National Ocean Month as a time to recognize the untapped energy sector potential of underwater assets and promote resource extraction. (His administration has already begun the process of trying to open up protected marine ecosystems to resource extraction, although doing so may not be easy or make economic sense.) He also hints that we should be fishing our oceans more aggressively to close a trade deficit in the amount of seafood we import.
Who It Will Affect: Although this shift in tone will further hearten those in the energy sector, it will only reinforce the terror and trepidation many others feel about Trump's disregard for the environment as anything but a resource to be mercilessly tapped until it is spent.

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Presidential Proclamation 50: [Proclaiming] June 2017 As African-American Music Appreciation Month
What It Will Do: An annual presidential duty dating back to 1979, this proclamation recognizes the role African Americans have played in originating or shaping just about every form of American music, from rock to jazz to gospel to rap. Trump's text plays this proclamation by the numbers, recognizing the pioneering Chuck Berry, who died this March, and Dizzy Gillespie and Ella Fitzgerald, who both would have been 100 had they lived to this year.
Who It Will Affect: This proclamation is always an appreciable moment of recognition, given how frequently the African American origins or histories of various forms of American art are erased in popular dialogue. However given Trump's seeming ignorance of black history and the fairly truncated and dispassionate nature of this text, you'd be forgiven for being a bit skeptical about how seriously this administration takes this recognition.

Presidential Proclamation 49: [Proclaiming] June 2017 As National Caribbean-American Heritage Month
What It Will Do: An annual presidential duty dating back to 2006, this proclamation recognizes the longstanding close ties between America and various nations and cultures in the Caribbean and the contributions Caribbean peoples have made to American history. Trump's text plays belatedly to the zeitgeist by noting that the founding father and musical subject Alexander Hamilton was born on the island of Nevis, but offers no other specific recognitions.
Who It Will Affect: Trump's lackluster order really just goes through the motions, and so will likely do little for those interested in these cultural ties and intercultural histories. But celebrations will be held across the nation throughout the month for those who want to observe.

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Presidential Proclamation 48: [Proclaiming] June 2017 As Great Outdoors Month
What It Will Do: An annual presidential duty dating back to 2004, this proclamation urges Americans to take the summer to go out and explore nature. Trump name-drops a few state parks across the country where people can camp, fish, or bike. He also claims that his team is working hard to improve America's outdoor venues by reforming public lands management and by working to clear maintenance backlogs in federal parks and other outdoor monuments.
Who It Will Affect: In theory, this sentiment is utterly uncontroversial. However outdoor sporting and recreation buffs tend to be skeptical of the Trump administration's sentiments on the great outdoors. Trump has approved an act of Congress and instituted an executive order that will make it harder to manage natural resources on ecosystem levels, instead favoring plans based on artificial state borders, and he has aggressively pursued the reduction or elimination of national monuments and expansion of resource extraction on federal lands.

May 24
S.Con.Res.14: A Concurrent Resolution Authorizing the Use of Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor Center for an Event to Celebrate the Birthday of King Kamehameha I
What It Will Do: Exactly what it says. Kamehameha Day, on June 11, is an annual tradition in Hawaii that celebrates the birth of the 19th-century founder of an independent Hawaiian state. It has also been celebrated in Emancipation Hall, where a massive statue of the Hawaiian king was moved almost ten years ago, every on that day every year in recent years. So this is routine stuff.
Who It Will Affect: Anyone in DC and wishing to celebrate Kamehameha Day will likely appreciate the fulfillment of this routine duty.

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Presidential Proclamation 47: [Proclaiming] Memorial Day, May 29, 2017, as a Day of Prayer for Permanent Peace
What It Will Do: An annual presidential duty dating back to 1950, this proclamation urges Americans to spend a moment on Memorial Day collectively praying (or imploring in whatever way we deem fit) for global peace to end bloodshed that needs memorializing.
Who It Will Affect: Trump's text calls for a moment of prayer at 11 AM and a national moment of remembrance at 3 PM, both in whatever your local time is. It also calls upon Americans to display the national flag, decorate graves, and attend the commemorative parades that are the staples of Memorial Day.

May 19
Presidential Proclamation 46: [Proclaiming] May 21 through May 27, 2017, as Emergency Medical Services Week
What It Will Do: An annual presidential duty since 1974, this proclamation urges Americans to recognize and respect the work of EMS personnel in helping to mitigate natural disasters and saving lives. Trump touts the existence of an ongoing project, EMS Agenda 2050, by which the federal government is working with the EMS community to help them meet the needs of the future and improve services to all Americans.
Who It Will Affect: Anyone who wants to show their appreciation for EMS personnel can attend one of the many recognition events held around the nation by EMS-related groups. That will surely be appreciated by EMS workers, and rather uncontroversial all around.

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Presidential Proclamation 45: [Proclaiming] May 21 through 27, 2017, as National Safe Boating Week
What It Will Do: An annual presidential duty since 1958, this proclamation urges Americans to heed boating safety if they choose to go out on the water this summer. Trump cites Coast Guard statistics pointing out that 70 percent of boating accidents are caused preventable human error and 80 percent of fatalities could have been prevented by basic preparedness like wearing a life jacket.
Who It Will Affect: This is a rare proclamation with actual instructions for potential observers of this week. Trump notes that the Coast Guard and local governmental authorities will hold safe boating events throughout the week; he also points out a number of broad safety measures those on the water should be taking. That'll be appreciated by the boating community of America, but have little effect beyond that circle.

Presidential Proclamation 44: [Proclaiming] May 21 through May 27, 2017, as World Trade Week
What It Will Do: Another annual presidential duty, in this proclamation Trump makes some perfunctory statements about the value of free trade and open markets and their importance to the American economy overall. He then pivots to his standard trade talking points, claiming that free trade ought to also be fair and touting his administration's dedication to root out trade cheating and eliminate trade imbalances between the US and other nations.
Who It Will Affect: This proclamation may strike many free trade proponents as odd coming from Trump, whose sometimes fringe views on what makes for good trade and how it affects the economy may well threaten numerous free trade deals. But for those willing to look past this, major US cities will observe this week with events boosting their local trade environments.

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Presidential Proclamation 43: [Proclaiming] May 22, 2017, as National Maritime Day
What It Will Do: An annual presidential duty dating back to 1933, this proclamation recognizes the continuing importance of America's Merchant Marine force to the security of the nation.
Who It Will Affect: Those inclined to observe this commemoration can attend a number of government and maritime industry celebrations across the country.

Presidential Proclamation 42: [Proclaiming] The Third Saturday of Each May as Armed Forces Day
What It Will Do: An annual presidential duty dating back to 1950 (although Trump's wording makes it seem as if he is creating a new tradition), this proclamation recognizes the contributions those in America's armed forces have made to the history and make to the continuing stability and safety of the nation. Trump's text explicitly notes the need to upgrade many service members' supplies and touts his attempts to score $54 billion more in defense spending in his proposed 2018 budget.
Who It Will Affect: Whether or not Trump's oft stated love of America's armed forces comes to anything substantial remains to be seen. In any case, government officials and local communities all across the nation will express their thanks to these service people on this day, and that will likely be appreciated by them.

May 17
Presidential Memorandum 29: For the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Treasury, and the Secretary of Energy
What It Will Do: The 2012 National Defense Authorization Act included a section threatening sanctions against the banks of any company that refused to reduce their consumption of Iranian oil, threatening their assets to put new economic pressures on our old enemy Iran. But as part of the 2015 deal in which Iran agreed to freeze its nuclear program for the lifting of certain sanctions, the US agreed to waive these restrictions so long as Iran keeps up its end of the bargain. This waiver has to be re-issued every 120 days, and was last renewed by Barack Obama before he left office in mid-January. This memorandum is just Trump choosing to renew that waiver, continuing a key bit of Obama's détente with Iran for at least another four months.
Who It Will Affect: Taken on its own, this may seem like a sign that Trump has moderated his stance on the Iran nuclear deal, which he decried and talked about scrapping on the campaign trail. However, Trump paired this move with new sanctions on individuals and companies linked to Iran's ballistic missile program, which is not banned but discouraged by the 2015 deal. (Iran responded with its own symbolic sanctions on Americans already forbidden by US law from doing business with the country.) Trump's State Department also speeded up the issuance of an annual report chastising Iran for human rights abuses, and the president's outreach to Middle Eastern allies is seen by some observers as a bid to develop an anti-Iranian coalition. Those moves may signal a shift in US-Iranian relations toward the hawkish.

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H.J.Res.66: Disapproving the Rule Submitted by the Department of Labor Related to Savings Arrangements Established by States for Non-Governmental Employees
What It Will Do: Another application of the Congressional Review Act, this measure nullifies a late Obama-era rule that would have made it easier for states to develop retirement plans for some of the 55 million or so American workers who do not have such plans through an employer. Although proposed state retirement plans differ in form, they generally aim to automatically take a chunk out of workers' paychecks and put it into state-managed retirement savings accounts; workers have the option of opting out of these schemes. Although the rule was not necessary for the development of these plans, it exempted them from certain federal regulations (so long as they met certain requirements) that could impose significant compliance costs on states. This measure follows up on a previous use of the CRA, signed into force on April 13, that killed a rule making it easier for cities and counties to develop such plans for their workers.
Who It Will Affect: The revocation of this rule throws plans that were already in development in seven states (California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington) into question. It may also chill plans in around two dozen other states to develop schemes of their own in the near future. Oregon and California, the furthest along of any states in developing programs, set to launch in 2017 and 2019 respectively, have indicated they will move forward no matter what new regulations they must comply with, but other states may be deterred. As none of these plans were in force yet, the rule's revocation will not rob anyone of retirement savings, but it does restrict what proponents saw as a major tool for increasing the financial security of workers. Mutual funds will celebrate this move, since they want people to invest in their products, not government-sponsored retirement funds.

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May 16
H.R.247: Modernizing Government Travel Act
What It Will Do: This orders the Government Services Administration to craft new regulations that will allow federal employees to file for reimbursement when they use "innovative mobile technology" services like Lyft and Uber—but also app-assisted bike-sharing services—to travel for work. The Administrative Office of the United States Courts is instructed to do the same for judicial branch employees. The regulations should not allow reimbursements for travel in privately organized and not-for-profit car- or vanpool situations.
Who It Will Affect: This bipartisan legislation basically finally allows government employees to get reimbursed for the same kind of work transit their private sector peers already regularly use; a January report revealed that Uber now accounts for the majority of all American business transit vendor expenses. Proponents of the bill argue that it will make the government a more attractive employer for job candidates (by bringing it up to speed with at least one private sector tech norm) and will, by allowing reimbursement for on average cheaper services, ultimately save taxpayer dollars.

Presidential Memorandum 28: Regarding the Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to the Stabilization of Iraq
What It Will Do: This action extends an action originally initiated by George W. Bush in 2003, and modified once later that year, twice in 2004, and in 2007 and 2014 each. The provisions of these actions were pretty esoteric, but in total they roughly try to provide some financial and legal protections to the Iraqi government and certain assets in the country while trying to prevent funds from going to destabilizing elements within the country. The basic idea being that it is in the interest of America's national security to do what it can to facilitate the reconstruction and development of institutional capacity in Iraq by legal and economic means.
Who It Will Affect: This is just an annual continuation of existing federal policy, so just maintains certain elements of the status quo.

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May 15
Presidential Proclamation 41: [Proclaiming] May 15, 2017, As Peace Officers Memorial Day and May 14 through May 20, 2017, As Police Week
What It Will Do: Proclaiming this day and week has been an annual presidential duty since 1962. Trump's text carries out the usual task of honoring those officers who were killed, died, or became disabled in the line of service. Drawing on recently released provisional FBI numbers, he notes that 118 police officers died while on duty last year, 66 in malicious attacks, which represents a marked increase over FBI numbers from 2015. Trump uses this as evidence of a real and growing threat to law enforcement officials and pats himself on the back for his February 9 executive order calling for the development of new measures to better defend officers from harm and harsher federal sentences for those who attack them. He also notes that his administration will support job safety programs and work to improve the efficiency of benefits claims processing for law officers.
Who It Will Affect: Like similar proclamations assigning special statuses to various days and weeks, this doesn't really do anything in particular.

May 12
Presidential Proclamation 40: [Proclaiming] Friday, May, 2017, As National Defense Transportation Day and May 14 through May 20, 2017, As National Transportation Week
What It Will Do: Proclaiming these national commemorations has been an annual presidential duty since 1957 and 1962, respectively. Trump's text contains the usual rote acknowledgements of the vital role infrastructure and the workers who maintain it plays in everyday American lives. He also focuses on infrastructure as a military preparedness and national security concern. And he dwells on the disrepair of the nation's infrastructure, and his administration's long-promised but yet-to-be-issued $1 trillion infrastructure development plan as a signal that his team is uniquely concerned with and devoted to address this national conundrum.
Who It Will Affect: Trump's text acknowledges and directs focus to a real issue: The American Society of Civil Engineers this year rated the nation's infrastructure at a D-plus level overall. Infrastructure repair and development is one of the more unifying bipartisan issues across the nation, so this focus could theoretically help politicians bridge ideological gaps. But highlighting this issue also draws focus to the fact that team Trump has been a few weeks away from issuing a comprehensive infrastructure plan for almost a year.
For More: What does it mean that Trump's infrastructure program might rely on "public-private partnerships"?

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Presidential Proclamation 39: [Proclaiming] May 14, 2017, As Mother's Day
What It Will Do: This is a perfunctory annual proclamation, dating back to 1914, in which the president recognizes and commemorates Mother's Day.
Who It Will Affect: Your mother, if you remembered to call her this year.

Presidential Proclamation 38: [Proclaiming] May 12, 2017, As Military Spouse Day
What It Will Do: This perfunctory annual presidential proclamation dates back to 1984. It seeks to honor the sacrifices made and support offered by military spouses. Trump's text swears to dedicate his administration to increasing the resources and opportunities available to these individuals, who often find themselves dislocated or suddenly left alone due to their partner's career. Trump specifically urges businesses to create opportunities for these military spouses to find work wherever they go, and keep them employed after relocations.
Who It Will Affect: This is always an appreciable show of respect and recognition, with events hosted by military organizations wherever spouses are found, including some informing them about resources or helping them to find employment. If Trump keeps to his word, his policy of seeking to improve these resources and opportunities will be appreciable as well.

S. 496: A Bill to Repeal the Rule Issued by the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration Entitled "Metropolitan Planning Organization Coordination and Planning Area Reform"
What It Will Do: This is yet another revocation of a late Obama-era rule, this one issued in December. However it was oddly enough advanced via a regular bill rather than a joint resolution a la the provisions of the Congressional Review Act. Regardless, it nullifies the rule mentioned in its title, which aimed to redefine the way entities managing urban planning (and especially transit corridors and provisions) between municipalities were to be delineated and managed.
Who It Will Affect: The rule in question sought, essentially, to merge down planning zones where possible for more coordinated and centralized transit planning. However politicians throughout the country and overwhelmingly across aisles saw the rule as an overreach on legal statutes that ultimately made it harder for localities to plan nimbly with local conditions in mind. As such this was an incredibly bipartisan rule revocation aimed at restoring local and situational control over transit planning and reducing costs that would have been imposed by new regime.

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May 11
Executive Order 34: Establishment of [a] Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity
What It Will Do: This order creates a commission chaired by Vice President Mike Pence that will review voter registration and voting processes in federal elections and issue a report to the president identifying how to enhance Americans' confidence in elections and make recommendations to deter improper or fraudulent voter registration or voting. No deadline for this report is provided in the order, but the commission will dissolve 30 days after it is issued. Who It Will Affect: This is Trump making good on a Twitter promise to to investigate voter fraud after he faced criticism over wholly unfounded claims that millions of people voted illegally in the 2016 presidential election against him and for Hillary Clinton, costing him the popular vote. Basically, it's an investigation designed to justify his wild claim, even though numerous studies—even those by experts Trump has tried to cite to justify himself—have rejected the notion that voter fraud is an issue of any substance in America. Even Trump's own lawyers in a recount of ballots from the 2016 presidential election in Michigan admitted they saw no evidence of fraud or mistakes.

Team Trump reportedly planned to make this order palatable to critics by empowering it to investigate policies that suppress votes, a cause of deep concern for Democrats, since these policies tend to target minority or low-income citizens.

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But voter suppression didn't show up in the order, which focuses wholly on elevating concerns about fraud. What's more, Vice President Mike Pence, while still the governor of Indiana, oversaw a witch hunt last October in which tens of thousands of minority voter registration forms were seized from a registration drive organization on the belief that maybe ten were fraudulent—a case which has yielded no prosecutions to date. And team Trump has selected Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach as the commission's vice chair. Kobach has been one of the loudest voices support Trump's claims about massive national voter fraud. He built some of some of the nation's most draconian anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant screening policies and pushed for strict laws in Kansas requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote. (These laws have led to one in seven Kansans seeing their registration suspended by the state on technicalities and have been challenged in the courts for potentially disadvantaging minorities.) Kobach has also pursued illegal voting cases in Kansas with such single-minded conviction of their threat that a local paper of record recently referred to him as the Javert of Voter Fraud.
For More: Why you should worry about Trump's voter fraud probe

Executive Order 33: Strengthening the Cybersecurity of Federal Networks and Critical Infrastructure
What It Will Do: This order recognizes the federal government's well-established problematic reliance on outdated and at times poorly defended IT resources. It mandates federal agencies now use the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity as a guideline for managing technological vulnerability risks. It also makes federal agency heads accountable to the president for instituting effective risk management policies and establishes an administrative priority to move the entire federal government toward the use of one centralized IT network. Beyond that, it mostly orders 12 new reports and studies to figure out how to generally make digital technology safer for government employees and the American people.
Who It Will Affect: Tech wonks (and the general public) have been waiting for the Trump administration's big cybersecurity mission statement since January, when he first intended to sign an earlier version of this order, then failed to do so for unknown reasons. Trump later missed a self-imposed day 90 deadline to develop a plan against hacking, and a day 100 plan to sign an updated draft of this order, which was apparently similar to the final product. These mysterious delays, as well as Trump's self-established technological ignorance and poor personal cybersecurity preparedness, sent worrying signals that this administration for all its campaign rhetoric might neglect cybersecurity issues.

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In that context, most observers rejoiced at this executive order. Although it does little more than acknowledge well-known problems, make some incremental policy steps, and set a tone for potential future action, it mostly hit the mark. This is the Trump administration—competent baby steps and an embrace of tactics respected by experts represents an unusual competence.

May 8
H.R.534: US Wants to Compete for a World Expo Act
What It Will Do: Many years go, world fairs and expos were a big deal in America; shindigs like the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and New York World's Fairs of 1939 and 1964 were epoch-defining moments of national pride and futurist ambition. Despite the historic power of these fairs to boost a city's prestige and goose up its economy, though, after the 1984 New Orleans World's Fair suffered poor attendance, declared bankruptcy, and had to depend on government funding to complete its six-month run, America lost interest in these gaudy affairs. In 1994, Congress banned further federal spending on these events. Later that decade, the country stopped paying annual dues to the Bureau International des Expositions, the global world fair organizing body. By 2001, the US officially withdrew from the body. This hasn't stopped American cities for bidding to host world fairs, but it has made it institutionally harder for the BIE to accept those bids and for cities to raise attention to or cash for their attempts. It has also made it harder for American delegations to make a good showing at fairs and expos abroad.

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This bill reverses course, arguing that these fairs and expos can significantly boost the economy of hosting regions, inspire American innovation, and promote our nation's exports. (As with other major events, like the Olympics, there's significant debate about the economic implications of hosting these sorts of shindigs.) Accordingly it instructs the Department of State to rejoin the BIE, and authorizes the department to take private contributions to make that happen; it's unclear if State will need to raise these funds annually to pay the BIE's $30,000 dues. The bill explicitly notes, though, that State cannot spend US taxpayer dollars to build expos or put US pavilions up at expos abroad. State is also prohibited from raising money on behalf of efforts to build expos or pavilions
Who It Will Affect: People and cities who have pined for World Fairs coming back to America will rejoice. However, the restrictions on spending may handicap American attempts to host a fair.

May 5
Presidential Proclamation 37: [Proclaiming] May 7 through May 13, 2017 as Public Service Recognition Week
What It Will Do: This perfunctory annual presidential proclamation dates back to 1985 and was designed to honor the work of civil servants of all stripes. Trump makes brief lip service to that idea, but then his text veers into self-praise for his March 13 executive order calling for federal reorganization geared towards increasing governmental efficiency.
Who It Will Affect: Every year, the Public Employees Roundtable organizes events alongside city and state officials around the nation for citizens to honor their civil servants, which many in the public sector will appreciate and anyone choosing to observe this week can join in on. However Trump's mention of his executive order just highlights the uncertainty his regime has created for civil servants.


Presidential Proclamation 36: [Proclaiming] May 7 through May 13, 2017, as National Hurricane Preparedness Week
What It Will Do: Presidents have made this perfunctory proclamation annually since 2004, when National Hurricane Preparedness Week replaced National Hurricane Awareness Week. (Because "awareness" does not equal "preparedness"!) Trump's text simply reminds Americans living in hurricane-prone areas to ready their homes, communities, and families for possible extreme weather events between June 1 and November 30: hurricane season. It notes that the National Weather Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency made numerous tools available during this week that the public may consult in the service of that preparation.
Who It Will Affect: The government resources and events that come along with this week will be useful to many living on or near stormy coasts as well. However, given the connection scientists have outlined between climate change and increased hurricane intensity (if not also frequency), this week may also remind some people that the Trump administration's astounding hostility to climate change research and mitigation efforts may eventually contribute to increasing the difficulty of hurricane preparedness.

Presidential Memorandum 27: A Letter from the President to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate
What It Will Do: This action just fulfills a procedural formality mandated by the 1985 Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act. Under that law, the president has to specifically designate that the money in a spending bill allocated for Overseas Contingency Operations, an uncapped Pentagon war-fighting fund currently being used to combat ISIS and other terror groups around the world, shall be transmitted to that fund. So this is just Trump telling Congress that the $76 billion allocated to those ends in the spending bill is going to that fund.


May 4
H.Con.Res.53: Providing for a Correction in the Enrollment of HR 244
What It Will Do: This action overhauled HR 244, a tiny bill ordering the Secretary of Labor to create an awards system to recognize businesses that hire and support military veterans. The bill had already passed through both houses of Congress, so it was an ideal vessel to (by the force of this resolution) transform into the 2017 spending bill, allowing that massive piece of legislation to land on Trump's desk in time to avoid a government shutdown. This action didn't eliminate the "Honoring Investments in Recruiting and Employing (HIRE) Vets Medallion Program" originally outlined in the bill. It just pastes in the entire budget before that program comes up, and renames the bill to reflect that it is now the "Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017."
Who It Will Affect: This parliamentary maneuvering doesn't hurt or hinder anyone backing the veteran-hiring incentive system HR 244 originally outlined. It may have actually accelerated its enactment by tying it to a must-pass spending bill. So ultimately this tinkering just helped the government to avoid a shutdown at the end of May 5.

Executive Order 32: Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty
What It Will Do: This order encourages every federal agency to find as many ways as legally possible to protect the rights of the religious. It specifically orders the Department of Treasury (read, the Internal Revenue Service) not to punish religious institutions for speaking on moral or political issues. (The 1954 Johnson Amendment generally prohibits tax-exempt nonprofits from campaigning, endorsing, or raising funds for particular candidates or initiatives.) Treasury is also ordered, in conjunction with the departments of Labor and Health and Human Services, to consider amending Affordable Care Act–linked regulations to address religious-based objections to requirements that employer-provided insurance cover certain essential health benefits. This implicitly refers to requirements for contraceptive coverage, which some religious groups oppose. Finally, the Attorney General is instructed to draft a guidance on how to interpret all religious liberty protections under existing federal laws.
Who It Will Affect: Although the Trump administration billed this order, long-awaited by its conservative backers, as a fundamental shift in policy, it doesn't actually do much. The Johnson Amendment, whose framework gives religious actors leeway to speak about political issues in general terms, cannot be repealed in full without an act of Congress. Even before this moratorium, the law has rarely been enforced in recent years.


On healthcare, organizations can already gain a religious exemption to avoid the requirement for contraceptive coverage; religious organizations' objections are now that having to opt out is itself a form of discrimination, which is pretty small marbles. The administration may be able to institute a blanket exemption for religious nonprofits that then requires an opt-in to providing contraceptive coverage rather than an opt-out. But this may be moot if team Trump achieves its goal and repeals the Affordable Care Act altogether.
For More: Read about the lackluster response to this order.

Presidential Proclamation 34: [Proclaiming] May 4, 2017, As A National Day of Prayer
What It Will Do: This is another perfunctory annual presidential action, mandated by an act of Congress since 1988. Trump's text encourages Americans to pray and meditate, and to recognize the role of faith in the history and foundation of the nation. Trump's text goes a bit above and beyond the usual platitudes, affirming Americans' rights to pray and worship as they choose in private and public and in any type of institution.
Who It Will Affect: National Prayer Day always affords a number of special observances for those inclined towards its message to attend. It also always pisses off secularists and atheists, who see it as far too religious for a state observance; their objections have never held much water in the courts or legislature, though.


May 1
Presidential Proclamation 34: [Proclaiming] May 2017 As National Mental Health Awareness Month
What It Will Do: Another commemoration with a long history, going back to 1949, here Trump aims to recognize the millions of American citizens affected by mental health issues and their families. The proclamation acknowledges a chronic lack of treatment afforded to over half of all individuals with serious mental health problems and commits the Trump administration to improving the prevention, detection, treatment, and general awareness of these issues. However, aside from noting that Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price will publicly mark National Children's Mental Health Day on May 4 to raise the profile of these issues, the text offers no real detail on how the administration will make good on these promises.
Who It Will Affect: While the administration offers only vague, limited guidance to those who wish to observe this month of recognition, many mental health organizations will host a number of events and promote resources and information on these issues throughout the month. Trump's promise of administrative care and comment to these issues will raise a few skeptical eyebrows, as the Republican healthcare reform proposal he's aggressively backed will, even after revisions, likely lower the availability of mental health care. He has also advocated slashing funding for medical research, including research into mental health conditions and treatment
For More: Why living with mental illness in rural America is so difficult


Presidential Proclamation 33: [Proclaiming] May 1, 2017, As Law Day, U.S.A.
What It Will Do: A perfunctory presidential proclamation dating back to 1958, this annual commemoration encourages Americans to acknowledge and celebrate the role of the rule of law in maintaining a democracy and the vitality of checks and balances in American governance.
Who It Will Affect: For those who wish the mark the occasion, bar associations (which helped to create this holiday in the 1950s) often hold talks and promote resources on the general subject or an annual theme. (This year's all about the importance of the 14th amendment.) However this usually innocuous and forgettable declaration will yet again cause some consternation and odd looks this year because it's coming from Trump. After a lifetime mired in legal scandals and court dodging, Trump spent his presidential campaign and a significant chunk of his first 100 days in office attacking the fairness and legitimacy of courts and judges whose rulings did not serve his political ends.

Executive Order 31: On the Establishment of the American Technology Council
What It Will Do: This order creates a council that will include over a dozen agency heads and presidential assistants and advisors, as well as additional members selected by the president or the council's director. The goal will be to develop a plan for improving the federal government's technological resources—although it seems it won't touch national security-related systems. It will be authorized to create committees, task forces, or interagency groups. The order further urges federal agencies to cooperate with the council's objectives and calls upon the director of national intelligence to share as much information with the council as possible about cyber security threats, vulnerabilities, and mitigation strategies. The council will disband on January 20, 2021.
Who It Will Affect: This is apparently one of the first products of Jared Kushner's sprawling and bizarre White House Office of American Innovation. Between this and Chris Christie's somewhat redundant committee to study the opioid crisis, it suggests that Kushner will mainly innovate by spawning further committees and councils to do something on issues that pop into his or Trump's heads. Chris Liddell, the White House's Director of Strategic Initiatives and a former chief financial officer of Microsoft, will reportedly run the council. It will also reportedly meet in June with the heads of about 20 major tech firms. Trump's hardly the first president to try to bring in Silicon Valley wonks to help update the federal tech system. Obama's US Digital Service initiative, which will have representation on the council, tried something similar to little effect.

April 29
Executive Order 30: [The] Establishment of [an] Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy
What It Will Do: This order creates a new organ in the White House, the OTMP, which will be tasked with coming up with new ways to lower America's trade deficit, protect the status of US manufacturing and workers, and generally boost economic growth.
Who It Will Affect: This is another one of Trump's more pointless, resume-padding executive orders. The administration already has several advisers dreaming up means of tackling all of these issues. Peter Navarro, who already heads the National Trade Council and espouses trade nationalism that's utterly fringe to most economists and seems not to grasp how elements of global trade work, was tapped to direct this new body. So this is really just a new bottle for the same old populist wine.

Executive Order 29: Addressing Trade Agreement Violations and Abuses
What It Will Do: This order starts by reasserting the Trump administration's largely nonsensical belief that any trade deal that might lead Americans to import more than we export is bad for jobs, the economy, and innovation. Operating on these odd convictions, this order directs the secretary of commerce to review all of America's active trade deals as well as the status of trading relations with World Trade Organization member states. Each of these reports should highlight any perceived trade abuses or harm to American jobs, innovation, or exports. They should be submitted to the president within 180 days and should include recommendations to remedy trade imbalances baked into such deals that Commerce and the USTR should begin to act upon as soon as possible.
Who It Will Affect: These studies seem at least partially redundant of the reviews of trade deals and deficits Trump ordered in his April 18 "Buy American and Hire American" and March 31 "Omnibus Report on Significant Trade Deficits" executive orders. (Those reports in turn, as we pointed out at the time, overlap with recent reports issued by the previous administration and annual reports produced by federal bodies on the state and impact of America's trade and trade deals.) So it's tempting to read this as just more fluff issued to boost Trump's record with his supporters, who go gaga over his lofty trade proclamations, on his 100th day in office. It'll create a ton of busywork for Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, who has already been tasked with a number of other reports and who now states down an analysis of dozens upon dozens of trade deals and relationships. Ross has stressed that he will not know what the impact or the implications of this review process will be until it is completed, but his strong protectionist bona fides and conviction that the World Trade Organization is a biased, overly bureaucratic, and all-around broken institution suggest that he will likely try to bully it into changing its charter rules, as well as trying to initiate renegotiations of or withdrawals from any number of trade deals.


April 28
H.Con.Res. 35: Authorizing the Use of the Capitol Grounds for the National Peace Officers Memorial Service and the National Honor Guard and Pipe Band Exhibition
What It Will Do: This authorizes the Grand Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police to hold an exhibit of their honor guards' and pipe bands' skills on May 14, and a memorial for police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty on May 15 on the grounds of the Capitol building.
Who It Will Affect: This is an annual authorization going back decades. Pretty routine.

H.Con.Res.36: Authorizing the Use of the Capitol Grounds for the Greater Washington Soap Box Derby
What It Will Do: Pretty much what it says in the title. The Capitol opens its grounds to this fun, youth-geared competition on 17 June.
Who It Will Affect: No one except for the kids in this derby and their parents.

H.J.Res.99: Making Further Continuing Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2017, And for Other Purposes
What It Will Do: This measure avoided a government shutdown on April 28 by extending 2016 levels of funding to May 5, allowing Congress another week to finally work out a deal to fund the government until September 30. It also extended the federal underwriting of health benefits for coal miners, which have been challenged by the declining state of their industry. Temporary funding for these health benefits, pending a larger legislative deal, was set to expire on April 30, but was likewise extended to May 5.
Who It Will Affect: This continuing resolution kept the federal government running, which obviously matters big-league to many people. It also demonstrated the GOP's basic competence when it comes to keeping the lights on. But it was a blow to Republican ambitions as well as to the Trump agenda and a boon to Democrats' perceived power. Finally, it gives Congress more time to come up with a more long-term, comprehensive deal.

Presidential Proclamation 32: [Proclaiming] May 1, 2017, As Loyalty Day
What It Will Do: As Trump's text almost defensively asserts, declaring this holiday is an annual presidential duty dating back to the 1950s, when it was used to counter the socialist International Workers Day, also celebrated on May 1, by reaffirming national devotion to American values—like capitalism. This year's proclamation is somewhat unique, though, in moving past a basic reaffirmation of broad American values and urging Americans to show their loyalty to limited governance and to stand against terrorism.
Who It Will Affect: It's a sign of the times that this proclamation inspired a national freak-out from those unfamiliar with the usually low-key tradition and thought it was a soft slide into dictatorial obedience.

Presidential Proclamation 31: [Proclaiming] May 2017 As National Physical Fitness and Sports Month
What It Will Do: Another annual presidential proclamation dating back to 1983, this one urges Americans to recognize the value of a healthy, active lifestyle for their overall collective wellbeing. It explicitly calls for people to take the month to focus on eating healthier, getting more active, and inspiring others in their lives to do the same.
Who It Will Affect: Although this is an uncontroversial sentiment, it's hard not to see it as a little ironic coming from Trump. A technically obese man with reported cholesterol problems (which makes sense given that he apparently subsists on a diet of fast food, shitty faux gourmet fare, and steaks), he has in the past said that he exercises as rarely as possible. His main exertion seems to be cart-assisted golf. He apparently believes he can coast through life on blessed genetics. Although we've had other unhealthy presidents, compared to the exceptionally fit and health-conscious Obama, Trump seems like the last person who should be giving fitness and wellbeing advice to Americans.
For More: We made our health editor eat like Trump for a week

Presidential Proclamation 30: [Proclaiming] April 30 through May 6, 2017, As Small Business Week
What It Will Do: An annual proclamation dating back to 1963, this seeks to highlight the role small businesses play in the US economy; case in point, they account for half of all private sector jobs in the nation. Trump decided to use the text of his proclamation this year to pat himself on the back for slashing regulations, challenging trade deals, and floating tax reform, which he claims will help to aid these businesses.
Who It Will Affect: Setting aside the fact (as has been noted in this tracker before) that Trump's policies are mostly show over substance, this is an innocuous reminder to patronize local businesses.

Presidential Proclamation 29: [Proclaiming] April 30 through May 6, 2017, As National Charter Schools Week
What It Will Do: Another annual proclamation, this week seeks to recognize the power of experimental and locally accountable charter schools. Trump's text challenges the role of the federal government in setting standards for learning and calls on more funding for these schools, which he sees as a particular benefit to minority and low-income communities.
Who It Will Affect: This week gives charter schools and organizations supporting them a chance to hype themselves up. To those on both sides of the aisle who support this model of education, it's a welcome moment of recognition. But to those who think charter schools are over-hyped as a magic bullet, this commemoration can be a little grating.

Presidential Proclamation 28: [Proclaiming] May 2017 As Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
What It Will Do: An annual commemoration dating back to 1977, this standard proclamation recognizes the contributions and accomplishments of citizens of Asian or Pacific Island extraction or heritage. Trump's text is fairly perfunctory, but he does name-drop the late Olympian Dr. Sammy Lee and pilot Katherine Sui Fun Cheung as two exemplars of Asian immigrant achievement.
Who It Will Affect: Usually this commemoration provides some appreciated visibility to neglected national icons and occasions some celebrations of AAPI heritage. However this is yet another presidential action that may highlight Trump's troubled relations with minority groups. Not only did Trump fare poorly amongst AAPI voters, a fast-growing electoral block, but his campaign rhetoric has been credited in part for a spike in hate speech and crimes against them in recent months and years. Six members of the White House's 14-person Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders resigned on inauguration day, and another ten resigned less than a month later, citing concerns about Trump's inaction on meeting with them about community concerns, his anti-immigrant rhetoric, and especially the perceived similarity of his (currently stalled) Muslim travel ban proposal to historic policies used to discriminate against Asian immigrants and immigration.

Presidential Proclamation 27: [Proclaiming] May 2017 As Older Americans Month
What It Will Do: Another decades-old perfunctory annual proclamation, this one honors seniors for their contributions to the nation and for their role as a link to national memories.

Presidential Proclamation 26: [Proclaiming] May 2017 as Jewish American Heritage Month
What It Will Do: An annual proclamation dating back to 2006, it highlights the long history of Jewish culture in America, a presence that predates the creation of the United States. Trump's text notes that Jewish Americans have crafted iconic characters like Captain America and songs like "God Bless America." It also name drops heavy hitters like Albert Einstein, Levi Strauss, and Mel Brooks. And it just so happens to note that Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is Jewish, as is Ivanka Trump.

Presidential Proclamation 25: [Proclaiming] May 2017 As National Foster Care Month
What It Will Do: One more perfunctory proclamation, this annual observation celebrates those who open their homes to hundreds of thousands of wards of the state in need of day-to-day care.
Who It Will Affect: While Trump's text notes that America needs more support for foster parents and more homes for children, he doesn't offer much advice for how citizens can observe this month or help improve foster care. Fortunately for those who wish to mark this month, other governmental resources detail ways they can get involved in or recognize and aid the system.


Executive Order 28: Implementing an America-First Offshore Energy Strategy
What It Will Do: This order contains several distinct and fine-grained provisions, but they all boil down to a bid at opening up America's coastal areas to oil and gas drilling in the name of energy security.

First, it orders the Interior and Defense departments to review and revise the five-year plan for 2017 to 2022 governing oil and gas extraction leases in seven administrative regions in the Arctic Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and Gulf of Mexico. The current plan, issued in November 2016 by the Obama administration, blocked off much of the arctic and bits of the Gulf of Mexico to lease issuances out of environmental concerns, and Trump would apparently like them open for business again. It also revokes a December executive order that withdrew a large chunk of the Arctic seas off Alaska from leasing programs indefinitely for environmental reasons and modifies the body of three memoranda that removed other bits of the continental shelf from leasing regimes such as to open them back up for exploration.

Commerce is ordered to refrain from designating new or expanding existing National Marine Sanctuaries unless Interior issues a review of the resource potential of the area in question. Various agencies are further instructed to review all National Marine Sanctuary designations or expansions from the last ten years and issue a report within 180 days with an eye to potentially reducing the size of or delisting areas seen as designated illegitimately or without a due consideration of their energy extraction potential.

A number of previsions are also made to facilitate speedy and cheap oil and gas exploration and extraction in these regions—these are fairly technical measures about reviewing and revising rules about loud noises from human underwater operations and their effect on whales, among other things.
Who It Will Affect: Trump claims this order will open a vast amount of America's resource potential up, creating thousands of jobs and improving energy and national security. It's true that the US's 1.7 billion acres of continental shelf (not all of which were closed off to resource extractors) likely contain tens of billions of gallons of oil and hundreds of trillions of cubic feet of gas resources. However, these are costly resources to locate and extract, and thanks to low energy prices industry demand for permits to explore and drill in these regions is at its lowest point since 2012. This order doesn't immediately greenlight impending developments, so it's unclear how much of the territory Trump has theoretically opened for extraction work will actually be put up for lease again. And initiating new leases will likely take years of slow legal work.

Still, this order does throw the protected status of millions of acres of underwater shelf and of at least three National Marine Sanctuaries into question in an unprecedented challenge to a previous president's lease scheme withdrawals and designations. It also threatens to weaken a host of BP disaster-inspired regulations, potentially increasing the risk of more massive oil spills in the future.


April 27
Executive Order 27: Improving Accountability and Whistleblower Protection at the Department of Veterans Affairs
What It Will Do: This order instructs the secretary of veterans affairs to create a new Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection. The office will assisting in disciplining or firing anyone working for the VA who is doing a particularly bad job, help to identify barriers to swift discipline or termination that need to be addressed, find ways to retain high-performing employees, and ensure that complaints against individuals or practices at the VA are resolved quickly, wrongdoings identified are corrected, and whistleblowers are protected.
Who It Will Affect: This is Trump's bid to make good on a campaign promise to increase the VA's accountability, reacting to a series of scandals starting in 2014 in which it was revealed that many veterans were not receiving timely care, that delays were being covered up, and that efforts to rectify these issues were moving slowly and haphazardly at times, which some observers have blamed, at least in part, on bad management. This is a mostly uncontroversial move. However some far that the order will end up favoring swift action over due process, opening a door for managers to override or circumvent reasonable civil service protections, perhaps at times in the service of their own grudges or vendettas in a way that may endanger would-be whistleblowers. The VA had already been instructed by Congress last year to create a Central Whistleblower Office; that office, apparently not yet created, looks as if it will be subsumed into the one ordered in this executive action.
For More: Here's what happens when the VA is your debt collector


Presidential Memorandum 26: [Regarding] Aluminum Imports and Threats to National Security
What It Will Do: This is all but a carbon copy of Presidential Memorandum 23, issued April 20, except that it calls upon the secretary of commerce to investigate whether current aluminum (rather than steel) import levels and dynamics have a notable effect on national security and what trade actions may need to be taken to rectify what the text already seems to see as a dangerously warped market. Under the 1962 law used to initiate this review, Commerce has 270 days to complete it.
Who It Will Affect: The military currently has enough aluminum for its needs. However, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross's insistence that we might not have enough aluminum for a military buildup—with which he and Trump seem obsessed—and apparent concern with the fact that the US only has one high-end aerospace-worthy aluminum smelter left suggest the review will likely find some excuse to take action.

While as with the steel review Ross insists this review will not target any single country, it seems aimed at China; since 2000, China has gone from supplying 11 to 53 percent of the world's aluminum while the US share of the global market declined from 16 to 2 percent. China is not the top aluminum exporter to America—Canada exports six times as much of the substance to us as China, which also lags behind Russia and the United Arab Emirates. But accusations that China "dumps" aluminum around the world at sub-market prices lead some observers to believe it is distorting international markets and causing declining production in and Canadian exports to the US.



April 26
Executive Order 26: Review of Designations under the Antiquities Act
What It Will Do: This order stems from the Republican belief that Obama and perhaps other presidents before him abused their power to designate national monuments via the 1906 American Antiquities Act. Trump and others see this practice as a land grab by the federal government that hurts the interests of local communities—and developers, potentially. (Obama designated a record 29 national monuments under the act and expanded several more.)

This order specifically instructs the secretary of the interior to review the origins of all national monuments over 100,000 acres in size designated since January 1, 1996. The idea is to make sure that these monuments aren't too large or limit usage too much. The secretary is supposed to bring a report back to the White House in 45 days on the status of Utah's Bears Ears National Monument. (This was designated by Obama on December 28 in an attempt to protect Native American heritage sites, and many Utahan politicians are eager to begin resource extraction on the land.) The full review is to be submitted to the president within 120 days.
Who It Will Affect: Aside from Utah and the 1.35-million-acre Bears Ears National Monument, this action could affect about two dozen monuments, mostly in Western states but also in Massachusetts and Samoa. Although a previous Interior effort scrutinized Clinton-era monument designations in 2001 and found no issues, observers believe this report will likely result in recommendations for size reductions or status revocations, given the administration's coziness with business interests who want access to federal lands. (Interest groups note that tourism and recreation boosts from national monuments create jobs and bring development to communities near them.)


Executive Order 25: Enforcing Statutory Prohibitions on Federal Control of Education
What It Will Do: This order instructs the secretary of education to review all existing rules and guidelines issued by her department within the next 300 days with an eye to revising or revoking any perceived to violate existing allowances for federal control over primary and secondary education. Going by the language of the order, this review lean toward giving power back to states and localities whenever possible.
Who It Will Affect: The full effect of this order will only reveal itself once the review is complete; even then, it's not clear how much change the administration will be able to enact. However the order is effective red meat for a Republican base that has taken a hard line against federal involvement in education policy.

April 25
Executive Order 24: Promoting Agriculture and Rural Prosperity in America
What It Will Do: This order creates an Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity, which will be administered by the Department of Agriculture and chaired by that department's secretary. The task force will include representatives from more than 20 departments and agencies and will spend six months coming up with ways to improve life for rural America. Any recommendations are to be harmonized with Trump's January 30, February 28, and March 28 executive orders on limiting the enactment of new regulations, all of which focus on limiting government regulation and empowering resource extraction and use by private firms or individuals. The order also axes a 2011 executive order, under which Barack Obama created the White House Rural Council, a similar body.
Who It Will Affect: This order rolled out in conjunction with the confirmation of former Georgia governor Sonny Perdue as Trump's new Secretary of Agriculture. It's a flashy project for him to kick off with, and a signal to rural Americans that team Trump supposedly stands behind them. Phasing out the White House Rural Council is ostensibly just a bid at avoiding task duplication, but depending on what comes out of the new task force, it could also represent a substantive change in stylistic approach or the amount of bandwidth devoted to rural American issues. But for now, this is just another order that asks for a report.


April 24
Presidential Proclamation 24: [Proclaiming] Days of Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust, 2017
What It Will Do: This proclamation declares the week starting April 23 as a period when the US and its citizens recognize and honor the victims of the Holocaust and Nazi persecution. America has been doing this every year around the time of the anniversary of the Allies' liberation of the Dachau concentration camp. The action enumerates all of the groups targeted by the Holocaust in clear detail, in language that was seemingly heavily inspired by if not basically lifted from the Holocaust Museum's "Introduction to the Holocaust" page.
Who It Will Affect: This period of remembrance is usually marked by ceremonies at locations across the country, including since 1993 an annual address by the US president. The Trump administration has seemingly placed special focus on this year's period of remembrance, and the media is paying special attention to Trump's April 22 video address and April 25 speech on the subject.

This focus stems from team Trump's miserable record when it comes to Jewish relations. On the campaign trail, Trump received support from vitriolic bigots with clear anti-Semitic views like former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke; some Trump supporters used anti-Semitic insults against his perceived antagonists. Trump's statement on January 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, failed to mention the Jewish people explicitly, inspiring consternation from Jewish groups across the nation. Trump has been criticized for not acting fast or firmly enough in response to a spate of anti-Semitic incidents across the nation. Then there was the whole fiasco when, earlier this, Press Secretary Sean Spicer tried to compare Syrian President Bashar Assad to Adolf Hitler by claiming the latter had not used chemical weapons against his own people, then flubbed his way through a series of stumbling and boneheaded apologies creeping his way toward an official recognition of historic reality. If nothing else, week will give Trump a chance to prove that these mistakes were errors and not some sort of anti-Semitic worldview.

April 21
Presidential Proclamation 23: [Proclaiming] April 23 through April 29, 2017, as National Volunteer Week
What It Will Do: This has been a routine presidential proclamation, issued every year since 1974 to honor service groups and the volunteers who donate their time domestically and abroad.
Who It Will Affect: The proclamation itself has no advice on how to observe the commemorative week, save to maybe pay your respects to a volunteer or two. But many service organizations organize special events around this week; keep an eye out for those and maybe participate in a little community-minded volunteerism if you feel so inclined.

Executive Order 23: Identifying and Reducing Tax Regulatory Burdens
What It Will Do: Rehashing a Trump campaign and administration refrain that the current tax system is unnecessarily burdensome, this order initiates a Department of Treasury review, to be conducted with advice from the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and the Office of Management and Budget, of all tax regulations issued or initiated since the start of 2016. The review is intended to identify any regulations that create undue burdens or complexity or exceed the IRS's authority within 60 days. A report is to be submitted to the president on how to mitigate these burdens within 150 days; within another 180 days, a report on actions taken to suspend, delay, rescind, or modify these relations is to be issued if they have not all been addressed.
Who It Will Affect: Although the administration talks as if its actions on tax reform are meant to simplify returns for individuals, most of the major tax rules issued in the timeframe specified here focused on increasing regulations on multinational corporations. Specifically, this order will likely review rules that:



Presidential Memorandum 25: For the Secretary of the Treasury [Regarding the Financial Stability Oversight Council]
What It Will Do: This orders the Department of Treasury to initiate a 180-day review of the process by which the FSOC, a body created by the 2009 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, determines and designates that a financial institution is "systematically important" to the American economy—a.k.a. "too big to fail." This review will, among other things, question whether the FSOC's process is sufficiently transparent, provides due process to entities under review, or creates an expectation in institutions that the federal government will shield them from bankruptcy. It will also consider whether the FSOC's process is consistent with Trump's ninth executive order, "On Core Principles for Regulating the United States Financial System."
Who It Will Affect: This is yet another signal of Trump's stated dedication to challenging the Dodd-Frank fiscal regulatory regime and reasserts the administration's belief that the law may do more harm than good. This contributes to the mixed signals Trump has sent and continues to send about cracking down on Wall Street.


Presidential Memorandum 24: For the Secretary of the Treasury [Regarding the Orderly Liquidation Authority]
What It Will Do: This orders another Department of Treasury review of a Dodd-Frank creation, a system under which the Treasury can take over financial companies if they are in danger of failing and taking chunks of the broader economy with them. The order accuses this system of possibly encouraging financial risk-taking and potentially wasting taxpayer dollars on private business matters (although taxpayer funds are supposed to be recouped). Within 180 days, the Treasury is ordered to issue a report on the process, its potential costs and shortcomings, and its consistency with Trump's earlier order. The review should make recommendations on how to reform the process if needed.
Who It Will Affect: Again, this doesn't have much immediate impact but could demonstrate Trump's willingness to go after Dodd-Frank.

April 20
Presidential Memorandum 23: For the Secretary of Commerce [On Steel Imports and Threats to National Security]
What It Will Do: This initiates a Department of Commerce study to determine whether current steel import levels and dynamics have a notable effect on national security. The memorandum draws upon the Trade Enforcement Act of 1962 (TEA), which allows emergency tariffs or other trade measures to address imbalances construed as security issues. The text takes care to clearly frame American metal and manufacturing industries as vital to economic and strategic security and to show that the administration already believes global steel markets are particularly warped.
Who It Will Affect: The exact impacts of this action depend on the findings of Commerce's report and its recommendations. The 1962 TEA is a rarely utilized tool, and the last time it came into play, in 2001, a Commerce report found no security grounds on which to act against imports of iron ore and semi-finished steel products. Given that defense eats up only about 0.3 percent of America's annual steel output, chances for a strategic argument on trade actions may seem slim. But considering the disposition of the current Commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross (a.k.a. "Mr. Protectionism"), who has hinted America might need more steel for a sudden military buildup or some such thing, there's a good chance that the report will initiate some substantive tariff regime. This promise of action to come, another sign of delivery on Trump's pro-rustbelt campaign pledges, almost immediately spiked up steel shares upward by up to 10 percent.


Although the administration insists this action is not specifically targeted at China, any tariffs would likely primarily target that nation's steel industry, which currently produces about half of the world's steel and supplies a quarter of the US market, in some cases with clearly artificially price-deflated materials. Trump has also indicated he might wish to use the threat of trade actions to leverage China into action against North Korea.

Issuing massive new protections against Chinese steel also would likely not bring back as many steel manufacturing jobs as hoped, many having been lost to automation and new materials and efficient techniques in the manufacturing world. It could however, by eliminating low-cost steel, have downstream negative effects on the construction and manufacturing industries, which dwarf American steel, and on consumers.

April 19
S.J. Res. 30: A Joint Resolution Providing for the Reappointment of Steve Case as a Citizen Regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution
What It Will Do: This measure allows AOL co-founder and all-around techie businessman Steve Case to serve a second term on the Smithsonian Institution's Board of Regents. The Board was created by law in 1846 to manage the nation's premiere cultural institution and is staffed by the chief justice and vice president, three senators and House representatives each, and nine citizens nominated by the Board and approved by Congress, who meet a few times a year to make major managerial decisions. Citizen regents can serve for two consecutive terms; Case's first term began in 2011 and was set to expire on April 25, 2017.
Who It Will Affect: Minimally, anyone who interacts with the Smithsonian and its ventures. Mostly, Steve Case.


S.J. Res. 35: A Joint Resolution Providing for the Appointment of Michael Govan as a Citizen Regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution
What It Will Do: This measure approves of the Smithsonian Institution's Board of Regents' (see above) nomination of Los Angeles Country Museum of Art Director Michael Govan to replace theoretical physicist and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute President Shirley Ann Jackson as one of nine citizen regents on the Board once her second term is up on May 5, 2017, or as soon as Trump signs this resolution. Jackson has served on the Board since 2005.
Who It Will Affect: Minimally, anyone who interacts with the Smithsonian and its ventures. Mostly, Michael Govan and Shirley Ann Jackson.

S.J. Res. 36: A Joint Resolution Providing for the Appointment of Roger W. Ferguson as a Citizen Regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution
What It Will Do: This measure approves of the Smithsonian Institution's Board of Regents' (see above) nomination of financial services executive Roger W. Ferguson to replace developer Robert P. Kogod as one of nine citizen regents on the Board once his second term is up on May 5, 2017, or as soon as Trump signs this resolution. Kogod has served on the Board since 2005.
Who It Will Affect: Minimally, anyone who interacts with the Smithsonian and its ventures. Mostly, Roger W. Ferguson and Robert P. Kogod.


H.R. 353: Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017
What It Will Do: A relatively uncontroversial 65-page bill with bipartisan support, this measure outlines a host of initiatives to improve the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) meteorological services. It advances projects like developing a plan for improving weather research, issuing annual reports on weather modeling processes, exchanging technology with and potentially buying data from private sector weather services, and completing a NOAA weather satellite system. Such initiatives aim to enhance NOAA's ability to provide timely and reliable forecasts up to two or more years ahead of time and to better alert citizens of weather events—especially severe events. The act authorizes $170 million in funding for these programs.
Who It Will Affect: Pretty much everyone benefits from more accurate and long-term weather predictions, in mundane ways and profound ones—like reducing crop loss for farmers or increasing disaster preparedness for city planners. This bill was initially proposed in the last session of Congress, but failed to pass before 2017. However, that was indicative of nitty-gritty sticking points rather than any real overarching hostility. The only caveat is that, as with the NASA funding authorization act signed into law on March 21, this is a guideline for how money should be spent—a plan—rather than an appropriations bill, so it doesn't actually pony up the cash to follow through on these laudable goals.


S. 544: A Bill to Amend Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to Modify the Termination Date for the Veterans Choice Program, and for Other Purposes
What It Will Do: This brief measure extends the shelf life of the Veterans Choice Program. Created in 2014, it allows veterans who live more than 40 miles from a Veterans Affairs healthcare facility, whose facilities lack certain specialists, or who have waited more than 30 days for treatment, to be matched with private providers. It was a stopgap measure intended to buy the Department of Veterans Affairs time to address chronic problems with long wait times at its own (government-run) facilities, which were stung by scandal. The stopgap measure was set to expire on August 7, but this extension will allow it to continue until its cash allotment runs out—which is expected to happen sometime early next year. The measure also contains a few provisions to improve medical record sharing, communications between the VA and private doctors, and payment protocols to the private sector, addressing issues providers and patients have raised with the Veterans Choice system.
Who It Will Affect: The measure should, for another year at least, help provide numerous veterans with care—and speed the provision of said care. That's something almost everyone can get behind. It will also give the VA more time to get its medical services house in order.
For More: America Has Been Screwing Over Its Veterans Since the Revolutionary War


April 18
Executive Order 22: Buy American and Hire American
What It Will Do: This order directs all federal agencies to submit reports within 150 days assessing implementation of existing "Buy American" laws and regulations, and to develop potential new policies to maximize federal use of American materials. The order immediately specifies that waivers on buying American, which can usually be issued for substantial cost-savings to the benefit of taxpayers or difficulty of procurement in the US, should be (alongside a general review of their usage) weighed against the possibility that foreign goods are cheaper due to trade cheating. The order also instructs various federal departments to create a report on the impact of free trade agreements on "Buy American" policies; under US law, some foreign products subject to such agreements be treated as American if there is no substantive import barrier on them or their American counterparts. Within 220 days, the Commerce Department is instructed to create a final report in consultation with State, the Office of Management and Budget, and the US Trade Representative, and present it to the president. This process is to be repeated annually for at least three years—longer if Commerce wills it.

The text of the order points towards a special protective focus on American aluminum, cement, iron, and (above all else) steel. It also calls upon the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, Labor, and State to generally review rules and guidances to ensure US workers are protected against foreign worker competition. It specifically calls for potential reforms to ensure the approximately 85,000 temporary H-1B worker visas issued each year go to the highest-skilled and –paid applicants rather than to individuals whose abilities overlap with American workers whose salaries they might undercut.
Who It Will Affect: The Trump administration claims that this order will promote economic growth and security, create jobs with fair wages, empower the middle class, and support manufacturing in America. But it actually doesn't do anything all that substantive. It just initiates a series of reviews that would at most strengthen or mildly expand existing programs over the course of years. ("Buy American" laws have been on the books since 1933. President Barack Obama even added to them in the 2009 stimulus package.) Some recommendations to increase "Buy American" compliance could prove impossible as well. After all, those related to trade agreements may require scrapping entire free trade deals. While Trump has suggested he'd do just that in the past, and did abandon the Trans-Pacific Partnership before it was completed, he has seemingly moderated his stance towards limited renegotiations of other deals like the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Some may find the order ironic, given the Trump family's use of foreign manufacturing and materials in some of its own products and reliance on foreign workers at facilities like Mar-a-Lago. That resort uses a different visa program, the H-2B regime, which receives no specific treatment in this order. But overall this is likely to prove a less-than-outrageous move, politically speaking, for an administration struggling amid repeated policy failures.

Still, the order quickly inspired criticism from construction groups and infrastructure wonks who point out that overzealously pursuing "Buy American" laws, especially on steel, could significantly inflate the cost of overhauling American infrastructure. And while many believe the H-1B visa program needs reform, if improperly handled, such changes could also limit the ability of small tech companies to obtain skilled labor to compete with tech giants, thereby limiting innovation.
For More: Trump's Government Isn't Going to Be Friendly to Legal Immigration Either

April 14
Presidential Proclamation 22: [Proclaiming] April 15 through April 23, 2017, as National Park Week
What It Will Do: Another standard presidential duty, this kicks off an annual holiday that president's observe by officially sanctioning the National Parks Service's tradition of waiving entry fees to the nation's 59 National Parks and welcoming all to partake in them freely. Trump's text hits all the boilerplate talking points of the annual commemoration, lauding the beauty of America's frontiers and the nation's history as a leader in conservation. He also claims that his administration will prioritize the protection of and public access to our natural wonders and hypes the stunt earlier this month in which he donated his first quarterly presidential paycheck to the NPS's American Battlefield Protection Program as proof of his conservation bona fides.
Who It Will Affect: As always, this is a great holiday for nature lovers, who can use it as a solid excuse to engage with the National Park system. But the sentiments involved in the holiday will strike many as especially hollow coming from Trump. Many of the bills he has signed and executive actions he has issued explicitly roll back federal environmental protections in the name of industry interests—hardly a focus on conservation. He's also proposed slashing the budget for the Department of the Interior, which oversees the parks system, by 12 percent, an amount likely to seriously damage preservation efforts. His salary donation (which subtly stressed a focus on military history over nature when it comes to preservation) was an empty, cynical stunt, offsetting just 0.005 percent of his proposed cuts. Using this proclamation to promote Trump's dedication to nature is a farce and a stark reminder that he stands in firm contrast to the history of conservation this commemoration typically seeks to recognize.
For More: A Conversation with the Rogue National Park Service Twitter Account


April 13
H.J. Res. 67: Disapproving the Rule Submitted by the Department of Labor Relating to Savings Arrangements Established by Qualified State Political Subdivisions for Non-Governmental Employees
What It Will Do: Yet another application of the Congressional Review Act, this measure eliminates a late Obama-era rule from December. This is a bit wonky, but in essence the rule aims to make it easier for cities and counties to create retirement savings programs for private-sector workers who don't receive retirement benefits from their employers. That rule was in turn an extension of another rule making it easier for states to create similar programs. (As of this writing, that state-level rule still stands.
Who It Will Affect: Republicans who backed this measure argue that it will maintain incentives for employers to provide retirement benefits, prevent confusion in the retirement services market, and keep the state out of a sector it has no business participating in. But that's little solace to the 55 million Americans who don't get a retirement account or pension through their jobs—especially the millions who were set to receive coverage in cities like New York, Philadelphia, and Seattle that were working on programs under this rule. Fortunately, many more will still likely achieve coverage through state-level plans so long as that related rule holds strong.

H.J. Res. 43: Providing for Congressional Disapproval under Chapter 8 of Title 5, United States Code, of the Final Rule Submitted by Secretary of Health and Human Services Relating to Compliance with Title X Requirements by Project Recipients in Selecting Subrecipients
What It Will Do: This usage of the Congressional Review Act eliminates a late Obama-era rule, this one also from December. The rule stated that states couldn't refuse to provide Title X family planning funding—a program created in 1970 to ensure services like sexually transmitted infection screenings and contraceptives were available to low-income individuals—to any recipient unless they were not able to provide qualified care. In practice, this was an attempt to prevent states from denying Title X funding to Planned Parenthood and other groups not because of the quality of their care but because they provide abortions. (Title X money cannot be used for abortions, but over a dozen states seemingly believe abortion providers should not have access to money for other less controversial family planning services.)
Who It Will Affect: This is one of the most significant uses of the CRA by Republicans, and one of the most aggressive manifestations of their anti-abortion agenda. It's immediate effect will be to enable states to choke off funding for vital services that millions of low-income Americans rely on for non-abortion healthcare and family planning.
For More: Read about how the law treats pregnant women


April 12
Presidential Memorandum 22: Delegation of Authority under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017
What It Will Do: This action just shrugs off responsibility for a report the president's office is legally supposed to submit to Congress around this time of year. That report is intended to document known instances of Americans traveling to conflict zones in Iraq or Syria to support terrorists and note major routes of concern. This memorandum shifts the report from Trump's office to the Director of the FBI.
Who It Will Affect: This shifts some responsibility from Trump onto FBI Director James Comey. It's a slightly weird ask considering Trump's recent oblique snipes at Comey and his agency. This is also an issue Trump supposedly cares about, so distancing his office from the report seems a tad odd. But ultimately, this is a pretty minor matter.

April 11
Presidential Memorandum 21: A Letter from the President to the President of the Senate [Concerning Montenegro's Membership in NATO]
What It Will Do: This is basically the cover letter that came with Trump's Tuesday signature of a treaty providing American assent to Montenegro's bid to become the 29th member of NATO. It just reassures the Senate that Montenegro's addition to NATO will not increase America's share of military spending on the organization nor detract from its military focus or obligations outside of the NATO region.
Who It Will Affect: The mechanics of NATO don't have a huge impact on everyday American lives in peacetime. Montenegrins will be ecstatic; they've been trying to cozy up to NATO almost since the moment of their independence 11 years ago. Russia, however, will likely be a bit miffed at Trump as they've generally opposed NATO expansion into the Balkans.
For More: Read this explainer on Trump and NATO

April 8
Presidential Memorandum 20: A Letter from the President to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate [Regarding the 6 April 2017 Missile Strikes on Syria's Shayrat Military Airfield]
What It Will Do: This measure fulfills a presidential duty to inform Congress of Trump's exercise of executive war powers—in this case, the recent missile strikes on a Syrian airfield. It explicitly states that this strike, because it was intended to dissuade chemical weapons usage or proliferation, improves regional security and thus serves the national interest.
Who It Will Affect: This just reasserts the claimed legality of such a strike under US statutes and makes clear that Trump may consider further actions in Syria.
For More: Read what a Syrian asylum seeker thinks of the missile strike

April 7
Presidential Proclamation 21: [Proclaiming] April 14, 2017, as Pan American Day and April 9 Through April 15, 2017, as Pan American Week
What It Will Do: This is another routine action, commemorating a holiday observed in several states in the Americas since 1930 at the behest of the governing board of the Organization of American States (then the Pan American Union). It marks the anniversary of the First International Conference of American States and dialogue amongst the nations of the Western Hemisphere. Trump used this year's proclamation to stress the importance of improving border security and fighting international crime through dialogue with other American nations.
Who It Will Affect: Trump's choice of focus in this year's proclamation may strike many other celebrating nations as uncomfortable, given his hostility towards nations like Mexico over these issues he now claims will be improved through comity and conversation. The president's nationalism in general does not gel well with a day of international identity and collaboration. But like all proclamations, this one is pretty meaningless.

Presidential Proclamation 22: [Proclaiming] April 9, 2016, as National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day
What It Will Do: Another regular presidential duty, this day of observance has been declared annually since 1987 to honor the sacrifices and allegiances of more than half a million Americans captured and held as prisoners of war since the American Civil War. This year Trump's proclamation focuses on commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Bataan Death March.
Who It Will Affect: This routine proclamation also sounds odd coming from the Trump administration, considering the president's campaign-trail mockery of Senator John McCain, who endured five and a half years of torture while imprisoned during the Vietnam War. Anyone who can get past that awkwardness can commemorate former POWs as they see fit.

April 6
Presidential Proclamation 20: [Proclaiming] April 7, 2017, As Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A.
What It Will Do: This is a routine action carried out by presidents annually since 1978. It honors the life and works of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994), who helped to accelerate and more widely disseminate Jewish teaching and outreach throughout the latter half of the 20th century as the leader of the Brooklyn-based Lubavitcher movement. (Because it is tied to Schneerson's birthday on the Jewish calendar, 11 Nisaan, the Julian date of the proclamation wanders around.) More broadly, the day usually serves to respect the role of families, schools, and religious and civic institutions in fostering values in children.
Who It Will Affect: Anyone who knows and respects the work of Rabbi Schneerson will appreciate this commemoration, and can celebrate it as they see fit.


April 5
Presidential Proclamation 19: Honoring the Memory of John Glenn
What It Will Do: This action instructs all federal, military, and naval facilities and grounds to fly their flags at half staff on April 6, the day of the late John Glenn's internment.
Who It Will Affect: All who knew and appreciated Glenn, the iconic astronaut who became the first American to orbit the earth in 1962 and the oldest astronaut to go to space in 1998, will appreciate this measure of respect. The former fighter pilot and senator from Ohio died in December at the age of 95.
For More: Read Motherboard's obituary

April 3
HR 1228: T o Provide for the Appointment of Members of the Board of Directors of the Office of Compliance to Replace Members Whose Terms Expire during 2017, and for Other Purposes
What It Will Do: A fairly routine measure, this allows members of the body mentioned in the title (a bipartisan board that enforces the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995) to continue serving past their current terms until their replacements can be named. It also outlines the terms for their replacements.

HJ Res 69: Providing for Congressional Disapproval under Chapter 8 of Title 5, United States Code, of the Final Rule of the Department of the Interior Relating to "Non-Subsistence Take of Wildlife, and Public Participation and Closure Procedures, on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska"
What It Will Do: Yet another application of the Congressional Review Act, this measure nullifies a late Obama-era rule that came into effect in September. This rule dealt with the hunting of predators that eat species like caribou or moose on federal wildlife refuges in Alaska. Among other things, it banned predator control on the 16 federal refuges in the state (about 76 million acres of land), and limited the circumstances in which bear cubs, wolves, or coyotes could be killed. Now that rule is scrapped.
Who It Will Affect: Republicans have painted the nullification of this rule as a win for states' rights—namely the right of Alaskans to determine how they use land in their own state. Their rhetoric has also indicated they believe this will benefit subsistence hunters and indigenous communities. (This rule explicitly made exceptions for indigenous traditional practices.) Critics of the move that it will empower Alaska to enact unscientific policies ramping up the killing of predators.
For More: Read Motherboard's report on this bill


HJ Res 83: Disapproving of the Rule Submitted by the Department of Labor Relating to "Clarification of Employer's Continuing Obligation to Make and Maintain an Accurate Record of Each Recordable Injury and Illness"
What It Will Do: Another utilization of the Congressional Review Act, this nullifies a late Obama-era rule enacted in December and put into effect earlier this year. That rule sought to shore up a long-standing Occupational Safety and Health Administration policy of fining or citing employers with more than a certain number of employees if they failed to make and maintain reports of work-related illness, injury, or death within five years of an incident. The policy had been challenged by a 2012 legal case that limited the agency's ability to penalize companies for inadequate record-keeping to within six months of a violation. This new rule tweaked and clarified the old policy's language to address existing legal concerns.
Who It Will Affect: Proponents of the rule's nullification argue that it was yet another example of federal overreach which did nothing to help worker safety but instead created an undue bureaucratic burden on companies, who can now thrive and focus their energies on actual safety issues. Opponents of this measure argue that OSHA has limited staff and cannot detect all violations of record-keeping responsibilities within six months, which will make it harder to enforce good record-keeping, in turn dampening their ability to detect company- or industry-level patterns of worker risk and respond to them accordingly.

S.J. Res. 34: A Joint Resolution Providing for Congressional Disapproval under Chapter 8 of Title 5, United States Code, of The Rule Submitted by the Federal Communications Commission Relating to "Protecting the Privacy of Customers of Broadband and Other Telecommunications Services"
What It Will Do: Another application of the Congressional Review Act, this measure nullifies a late Obama-era rule, this one set to go into effect at the end of 2017. This rule required that internet service providers (ISPs) supply customers with clear and accurate privacy notifications; obtain customers' consent to share their data (including browser and app usage history) with other parties; and notify customers, law enforcement, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of data breaches. It also bars ISPs from making services contingent on surrendering privacy rights and obfuscating that special deals are require the abdication of the same.

However the rule is not totally novel—it was just needed because in 2015 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) assumed authority over ISPs from the FTC, meaning that FTC rules no longer applied and new FCC rules were needed. This new FCC rule set was in many ways similar to the FTC rule. Still, this new rule would have notably put a higher barrier on the sale of consumer browsing and app usage data, requiring users to opt into that arrangement at an ISP's request rather than opt out of it as per the FTC rules.


Presidential Proclamation 18: [Proclaiming] April 2 through April 8, 2017, As National Crime Victims' Rights Week
What It Will Do: This action creates a one-off week in which Trump says his government will recommit itself to law and order governance and empowering the victims of crimes. He flaunts his developing Victims of Immigrant Crime Engagement (VOICE) initiative as a symbol of this devotion, rehashing not only his inaugural's "American Carnage" tone but his conviction that governance is all about security and that immigration leads to insecurity and financial loss. He also includes some conspiratorial language about how the media and special interest groups have silenced the voices of victims of immigrant crime in the past and how he will stop this. However the proclamation stops short of detailing any new moves team Trump will take to recognize and support the victims of crime at large or how citizens can observe the week.



March 31
Executive Order 21: Regarding the Omnibus Report on Significant Trade Deficits
What It Will Do: Ostensibly the first step in a long-term strategy to radically rewrite American trade policies and deals with other nations, this order instructs the secretary of commerce and the US trade representative to author the report named in its title within 90 days. The report will focus on analyzing America's standing with over a dozen trade partners with whom the US had a deficit in 2016, searching for any practices that could be considered cheating or intellectual property theft and any imbalances in current deals. (In other words, anything that its authors determine might go against the interests of America.) It will also examine particular imports or types of trade practices that may be detrimental to American interests.
Who It Will Affect: It's unclear whether the report will yield any new insights, as numerous federal institutions already issue regular analyses of American trade. This report may just be a more comprehensive and concentrated shot of information. The report indicates the Trump administration's conviction that America's trade deals flat-out do not work (a far from foregone conclusion). This has spooked some observers, who believe it could signal the start of an impending trade war as Trump takes his signature hacksaw approach to a complex issue. This will also complicate Trump's relationship with China: Despite the administration's assertions that this order is not focused on China, it's the source of the vast majority of America's trade deficit, engages in some suspect practices (which previous administrations have called out), and is a favorite rhetorical punching bag for Trump.

Executive Order 22: Providing an Order of Succession within the Department of Justice
What It Will Do: This order basically negates Trump's 12th executive order, which itself supplanted a late Obama-era decision on the line of succession for the US attorney general in the event that the deputy and associate attorneys general and any other designated successors are not able to serve. This order leaves the US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia first in line in that eventuality, but replaces the US attorneys for the Northern District of Illinois and Western District of Missouri with the US attorneys for the Eastern District of North Carolina and the Northern District of Texas. It is unclear why team Trump wanted to make this wonky move.

Executive Order 23: Establishing Enhanced Collection and Enforcement of Antidumping and Countervailing Duties and Violations of Trade and Customs Laws
What It Will Do: Trump's second overhyped trade-related order in one day, this measure also represents a call to consider a course of action rather than an actual action. It instructs Homeland Security, the Treasury, the Department Commerce, and the US trade representative to develop a plan within 90 days to fight "dumping," the practice of foreign companies unloading goods at low prices in another country. It also orders the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection to develop a plan within 90 days to better enforce measures against pirated or counterfeited materials entering the American trade stream. Federal legal authorities are also instructed to come up with recommendations on how to better prosecute significant trade law offenses in the near future.
Who It Will Affect: Although this order is a little more concrete than the day's previous trade-related order, it is still just talk right now. These measures are less likely to spark concerns of a trade war at least, as they mostly concern enforcing laws already on the books. However, given how tiny a slice of US trade these violations account for, cracking down on them likely will not have a notable effect on American trade or the wider economy. This order will likely needle China, complicating relations between the two countries.


HR 1362: To Name the Department of Veterans Affairs Community-Based Outpatient Clinic in Pago Pago, American Samoa, the Faleomavaega Eni Fa'aua'a Hunkin VA Clinic
What It Will Do: Exactly what the bill's title says.
Who It Will Affect: This rapid act to memorialize one of American Samoa's most prominent modern politicians, who died in February, will likely be appreciated by many of his constituents and colleagues. Hunkin served as the territory's representative in Congress for 13 straight terms (1988 to 2014) before losing to a challenger, and previously served served as the territory's attorney general and lieutenant governor for several years. He was one of the first to enlist in the territory's freshly established Army Reserve unit in 1980.

HJ Res 42: Disapproving the Rule Submitted by the Department of Labor Relating to Drug Testing of Unemployment Compensation Applicants
What It Will Do: The eighth application of the CRA, this measure nullifies a rule finalized in August by the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration. The rule was developed in reaction to a 2012 law amending the Social Security Act; the point was to define which jobs regularly require drug tests (as this was not specified in the text of the law), further clarifying limits on the categories of people seeking unemployment benefits that states could test themselves.
Who It Will Affect: Republicans claim this rule, shot down on party lines, overreached in limiting states' rights to determine their own lists of jobs that regularly require drug testing. So we won't know for sure who is affected until states redefine their interpretations of the law. This will likely lead to more people being drug tested for unemployment benefits, a longstanding policy goal of Republicans. (There's a lack of hard evidence that this would be beneficial, and would likely make it harder for some people to get back to work.) The revocation of this rule has been rigorously opposed by civil rights and labor organizations, which see the inevitable expansion of drug testing for unemployed individuals as an arbitrary stigmatization of poor people.
For More: Read VICE News's report on this law



Presidential Proclamation 12: [Proclaiming] April 2017 As Cancer Control Month
What It Will Do: As with many proclamations, this is a routine presidential action (dating back to the 1930s) meant to honor those who've been killed by cancer, celebrate survivors, and recommit the nation to providing care and finding a cure. (It's light on specifics on that last point, though.) It highlights both American advances in cancer treatment and the continued suffering the disease causes.

Presidential Proclamation 13: [Proclaiming] April 2017 As National Child Abuse Prevention Month
What It Will Do: Another routine action (dating back to the 1980s), this one renews the government's commitment to stopping child abuse by raising awareness of the issue and publicizing steps to safeguard children by reporting concerns and providing families at risk of abuse with help. It honors families, foster and adoptive parents, child protective workers, and other community members who can play a role in family life. It also contains a whole lot of language about the primacy of the family as a social unit that must be preserved.

Presidential Proclamation 14: [Proclaiming] April 2017 As National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month
What It Will Do: A routine proclamation from 2001 onwards, this action aims to highlight the issue in its title and to reaffirm federal dedication to providing prevention and victim support services. Trump uses the text here to trumpet a task force he convened under the US attorney general on reducing crime as a substantive measure towards these ends. He also calls for more community and youth engagement to change social norms that condone sexual assault.
Who It Will Affect: Coming from a man who's been accused of assaulting over a dozen women and who has bragged about grabbing women "by the pussy" in the past, this routine action will come off as bitterly ironic to many. Trump's attempt to paint this as a law and order issue he's already tackling seems especially vapid and tacky in that context. But at the very least, those who don't already think about this issue can use actual resources other organizations put out for this month every year to educate themselves.

Presidential Proclamation 15: [Proclaiming] April 2017 As National Financial Capability Month
What It Will Do: This action aims to highlight the reality that the majority of American households don't have savings for emergencies or college tuition. A third of Americans lack retirement savings while others with them worry they will not be sufficient to support them later on. It's a real issue that deserves pointing out. But the rest of the proclamation emphasizes how Trump's other executive orders will supposedly somehow empower Americans to save for retirement and build wealth. It also stresses the belief that educating people on how to save is the key and a sufficient tactic for improving this chronic financial instability.
Who It Will Affect: To anyone struggling to save, the notion that they just need to learn tricks and make more of an effort will likely be insulting. But anyone who wants to search out more tips and tricks or who needed a nudge to consider these issues can do so this month.

Presidential Proclamation 16: [Proclaiming] April 2017 As National Donate Life Month
What It Will Do: A routine proclamation for the past 14 years, this action seeks to raise awareness of America's organ and tissue donor systems and the amount of good a single donor can do.

Presidential Proclamation 17: [Proclaiming] April 2, 2017 As World Autism Awareness Day
What It Will Do: This action seeks to highlight current knowledge on the causes of and the search for treatments for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and to help people get education on how to identify ASDs early in a child's life. It commits the US government to the search for a cure to autism.
Who It Will Affect: This is one of Trump's more substantive and worrying proclamations to date. It's uncomfortable in part because it sets the federal government on the pathologizing side of a debate on whether to view autism as a "disease or difference." But more so, it highlights Trump's longstanding lean toward the anti-vaccination movement based on widely discredited reports that vaccinations have been linked to a spike in autism diagnoses. This suggests that those who do not see autism as a disease in need of a cure, but rather a different mode of engaging with the world that society needs to work with are in for a rough four years (at least). Those who believe in evidence-based scientific approaches are also in for a rough ride under the Trump regime. But we knew that already.


SJ Res 1: A Joint Resolution Approving the Location of a Memorial to Commemorate and Honor the Members of the Armed Forces Who Served on Active Duty in Support of Operation Desert Storm or Operation Desert Shield
What It Will Do: A Desert Storm and Desert Shield service memorial has been in the works for about seven years now; its development was initiated by the private sector and it will be funded through some $25 million in private donations and funds. Legislation authorizing the creation of the memorial on federal lands (in Washington, DC) passed through Congress in 2015. This new measure just approves, as a matter of procedure, the ultimate choice for its placement within the city—near the national mall.
Who It Will Affect: This measure moves a long-sought goal of recognition of those veterans one step closer to reality. These operations (in 1990 and 1991) are too often treated as a historical footnote—a prelude to modern American military entanglements in the Middle East. Remembering this conflict is a reminder of America's historic commitment to intervening on behalf of friends and allies (like Kuwait during its occupation by Saddam Hussein's Iraq) and role in forming international defensive coalitions (like the 33-nation coalition that collaborated in these operations) in an era of increasing discord and isolationism.

March 29
Executive Order 20: Establishing the President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis
What It Will Do: This is Trump's attempt to make good on one of his core campaign promises: tackling the opioid epidemic that is killing thousands yearly and has ravaged many of his core constituencies especially badly. He's chosen to tackle it via government's favorite mechanism: a commission, which will apparently be answerable to presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner. The commission is tasked with studying federal spending on addiction treatment and overdose reversal, reviewing best treatments in addiction prevention and services, and reviewing federal programs for their scope and effectiveness. The upshot is that it will issue a report by October, then likely be disbanded.
Who It Will Affect: Trump has been praised for taking a public health–based focus in the order, indicating he wants to avoid law-and-order crackdown solutions. His pick of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie—who has personal experience with the epidemic and has passed some of the strongest evidence-based, public-health-focused opioid-related laws in the nation—has also been praised.


March 28
S 305: Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017
What It Will Do: This act literally just amends a line of the US Code to encourage the display of the American flag on National Vietnam War Veterans Day—March 29.
Who It Will Affect: Anyone who needed a nudge to put out a respectful flag once a year, I suppose.

Executive Order 19: Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth
What It Will Do: This is a doozy of an order, packing a number of long awaited Trumpian environmental initiatives into a single far-reaching action.

It starts with a general call for federal agencies to review any policies that could burden the development of domestic energy resources (namely coal, natural gas, nuclear energy materials, and oil) and within 180 days submit a plan to suspend, revise, or revoke them. (This follows a number of other efforts by Trump and his Congress to slash regulations.)

Then comes an entire section ordering the EPA to review the 2015 Clean Power Plan (CPP), an ambitious Obama-era initiative aimed at reducing power plant emissions by 32 percent by 2030, and several related rules—the idea being, again, to work to strip regulations. Five other rules are also slated for review, all of which govern oil and natural gas production and the resulting on- or off-site waste and emissions. Trump seems to want to make it easier for energy companies to extract resources from federal lands and operate less-than-green power plants.

Trump can't unilaterally revoke rules, but he can take back Obama's actions. In this order, Trump rescinded a 2013 order urging government bodies to help the nation prepare for the effects of climate change. He also stuck down three memoranda and two executive reports from the Obama administration that were intended to lay out a roadmap to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and push the country to work on preparing for climate change. Also gutted was a guidance on how federal agencies should factor greenhouse gas emissions into their projects and actions. Trump also disassembled a federal body convened under Obama that had issued reports on how to price carbon emissions in calculating the cost of federal initiatives. Trump is, as much as possible, telling the federal government not to worry about climate change.

Finally, this order scraps a Department of the Interior order from 2016 geared toward reevaluating and eventually retooling the program for leasing federal lands out for coal extraction; he seemed especially interested in ending the moratorium on new coal leases. Basically, Trump is looking to make it easier to mine federal lands for coal.

The new order notably does not withdraw the United States from the 2015 Paris climate agreement, as many environmental advocates had feared it might. But the other aspects of this order mean that it will be very difficult, or impossible, for America to meet its goals under that agreement, functionally voiding it.



March 27
HJ Res 37: Disapproving The Rule Submitted by The Department of Defense, The General Services Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Relating to The Federal Acquisition Regulation
What It Will Do: This is the fourth Trump-era application of the Congressional Review Act to invalidate an Obama-era rule (and just the fifth time the CRA has ever been used). That rule hadn't come into effect yet, but it would have required all major government contractors to disclose any contested or confirmed violations of certain federal or state labor laws over the previous three years (not counting any before the rule came into effect). Although sometimes erroneously labeled as a "blacklisting rule," this regulation would have meant that these violations would simply be taken into account by the agency hiring contractors.
Who It Will Affect: As the rule was not yet enacted in full, its nullification technically affects no one. According to the rule's opponents, its implementation would have imposed unnecessarily upon businesses by creating a regulatory barrier versus just enforcing existing labor laws. Others would call the rule a way to incentivize companies that want to do business with the government to follow the law. Either way, this is another pro-business measure pushed through by Republicans.


Executive Order 18: The Revocation of Federal Contracting Executive Orders
What It Will Do: This action revokes two Obama executive orders and a section from a third. The first of those orders laid the groundwork for the Obama-era rule that Trump and Congress nullified via the House Joint Resolution 37 (see above). Essentially, this was Trump scorching the earth for any requirement that potential federal contractors provide details on contested or confirmed worker's rights violations, beyond the limitations on new rules similar to the one eliminated by the CRA.
Who It Will Affect: Pretty much the same people affected by HJ Res. 37.

HJ Res 44: Disapproving The Rule Submitted by the Department of The Interior Relating to Bureau of Land Management Regulations That Establish The Procedures Used to Prepare, Revise, or Amend Land Use Plans Pursuant to The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976
What It Will Do: The fifth Trump-era application of the Congressional Review Act, this measure nullifies an Obama-era rule put on the books in December. At the most basic level, this rule (dubbed "Planning 2.0") was an attempt, launched in May 2014, to update regulations untouched for around three decades. Specifically, the Bureau of Land Management sought to respond to critiques that their process for coming up with plans to sustainably manage and utilize public lands was slow, opaque, and unresponsive. This involved making it easier for the public to submit information and review and comment upon developing plans earlier and throughout the planning process. It would have also made it easier to plan on the "landscape level," rather than by political borders; it would have moved ultimate decision-making authority away from state and local levels and towards the federal level to facilitate decision-making on plans involving more than one state. But that rule is now scrapped.
Who It Will Affect: Republican ideologues (especially in the West, where there is more publicly-owned land) will see this as a win for local governments against what they pained as an overreaching federal land grab. The resource extraction industry is also praising this decision by Trump, since it will presumably make it easier for them to operate on federal land. However, it will also make it much more difficult for the government to coordinate large-scale land planning initiatives, which primarily affects environmental initiatives. (Think protecting threatened species whose habitats expand across jurisdictions).


HJ Res 57: Providing for Congressional Disapproval under Chapter 8 of Title 5, United States Code, of the Rule Submitted by the Department of Education Relating to Accountability and State Plans under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
What It Will Do: The sixth application of the Congressional Review Act in the Trump era, this nullifies a late Obama-era rule and put into implementation earlier this year. This rule was developed to guide and clarify the implementation of the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act. A relatively popular bipartisan bill and the biggest overhaul of US primary and secondary education policy since 2001's No Child Left Behind Act, ESSA changed the rules for evaluating struggling schools and how to intervene with them, balancing basic federal standards against local and state flexibility. The rule sought to pin down some specifics in this process, like pushing school evaluations to weight student achievement above other factors, mandating that schools publish facility report cards, and requiring a critical mass of students take assessment-relevant tests.
Who It Will Affect: In the short term, many worry this revocation will screw over some states and localities whose ESSA compliance plans are due in April and may have to be reworked in light of this. Democrats and a number of education and other interest groups (including the US Chamber of Commerce) argue Trump's order will make it easy for states to mask or avoid dealing with poorly performing schools. It's not too hard to read this, given the bipartisan support of the ESSA and the fairly innocuous language of the rules, as one of the most aggressive applications of the CRA so far.

Presidential Memorandum 18: On the White House Office of American Innovation
What It Will Do: This action creates a new executive body under the aegis of the White House: the Office of American Innovation (OAI), to be headed by the president's senior advisor along with just under a dozen other presidential advisors and assistants, acting in consultation with the directors of the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Science and Technology Policy. The OAI is given the broad task of identifying policies and other plans to improve government operations and services, the quality of life for American citizens, job creation, and general innovation and wellbeing in the nation. The OAI is specifically tasked with culling what it considers the best-proven ideas from the government, private sector, and other "thought leaders."
Who It Will Affect: This seems to be a move to consolidate policy decisions into Trump's inner circle—in a way that looks borderline nepotistic, as the OAI will be run by Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who will reportedly consult not just with business and tech leaders but with his wife Ivanka. It's hard to tell who it will effect or to what extent until Kushner and his team start to take actions. Initial reports suggest he may "reimagine" Veterans Affairs, seek to tackle opioid addiction in America, try to modernize tech and data infrastructure in federal agencies, rewrite worker training programs, and undertake transformative infrastructure policies. But how many projects the OAI will pursue, in what manner, and just how effectively or successfully, remains to be seen.


HJ Res 58: Providing for Congressional Disapproval under Chapter 8 of Title 5, United States Code, of the Rule Submitted by the Department of Education Relating to Teacher Preparation Issues
What It Will Do: A stunning seventh application of the Congressional Review Act in the Trump era, this resolution nullifies another late Obama-era rule. This rule was in large part a reaction to Government Accountability Office findings that some states weren't overseeing teacher training programs as required under the 1965 Higher Education Act. Accordingly, the rule sought to better define what indicators states should use to assess these programs. Ideally that data would also be better disseminated, with the goal of improving information about what teacher training programs were effective. It also sought to bar students at low-quality programs from receiving federal TEACH grants.
Who It Will Affect: From the regulators' perspective, this measure—especially the CRA provisions that block substantially similar rules in the future without express Congressional approval—will make it much tougher for anyone to identify underperforming teacher training programs and will ultimately be detrimental to the quality of teachers in the country. From the perspective of conservatives and some higher education organizations, this prevents the federal government from taking control of education away from states and localities. It also prevents what opponents painted as a need-based grant system for teachers from being tied to the quality of an institution, which they claimed would have created year-to-year uncertainty for students in need of aid.

March 24
Proclamation 11: [Declaring] Greek Independence Day: A National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy, 2017
What It Will Do: Yet another perfunctory annual presidential holiday proclamation, this action commemorates the 196th anniversary of Greek independence. As in past years, Trump's text hypes up an oversimplified historic parallels between and lines from ancient Greek to modern American democracy, broadly praises general democratic ideals and the modern state of Greece, and calls on Americans to observe the country's independence day as we deem it appropriate.
Who It Will Affect: As with most of these proclamations, anyone who cares to observe the day could do so. That's about it.

March 23
Presidential Memoranda 16 and 17: Regarding the Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to South Sudan
What It Will Do: These actions continue an executive order Barack Obama signed in 2014, which declared the crisis in South Sudan a national emergency and attempted to seize or intercept US-based or –transiting assets of and ban travel to America by those deemed to be complicit in the nation's misfortunes. (South Sudan entered a full-on civil war in December 2013, which has killed at least 50,000 citizens, displaced over a quarter of the population, abetted humanitarian disasters like an ongoing famine, and destabilized the wider region.) Actions such as this require that the sitting president re-declare a national emergency within 90 days of the anniversary of its initial declaration every year, or else their conditions lapse.
Who It Will Affect: In theory, this action continues to apply pressure to at least some relevant actors in South Sudan's ongoing crisis, needling them and the nation towards peace. In practice, the order it continues certainly hasn't made a visible dent in the deep-seated and ongoing conflict in the nation.
For More: Read more about the crisis in South Sudan


March 21
S 422: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017
What It Will Do: A fairly uncontroversial bipartisan measure, this 146-page bill authorizes a $19.5 billion budget for NASA in 2018 and guides how that money should be spent. That's a $200 million boost over the agency's previous budget, and a direct contravention of Trump's preliminary budget proposal, released less than a week earlier, which called for the agency's budget to be slashed to $19.1 billion. Although it is the first NASA authorization since 2010, it mostly reaffirms support for ongoing projects or missions, like America's involvement in the International Space Station or work on the James Webb Space Telescope. Notably, it contains a provision, the TREAT Astronauts Act, empowering NASA to provide healthcare for astronauts for medical issues related to their service and to study the effects on the human body of long-term space missions. While the bill clearly shows strong Congressional support for manned space exploration and Mars it is eerily silent on the issue of earth sciences research. This just reiterates the fact that this Congress is big on the spectacle of American greatness, it's not so hot on climate research.
Who It Will Affect: Although this bill authorizes and guides spending, it is not an appropriations measure, so it doesn't actually proffer the cash to do any of this. (Womp womp.) That will have to wait for the rest of the budget process to play itself out, which could be a long slog. And as this because this bill is also largely a continuation of previous policies given a Trump-era gloss, the pomp and ceremony surrounding its signing far outstripped its practical effects. More than anything, it shows that not all of Trump's proposed budget cuts will become reality.
For More: Read an interview with the guy responsible for dressing astronauts

March 20
Presidential Memorandum 15: The Delegation of Authority under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017
What It Will Do: A fairly limited and presently mysterious action, this delegates President Trump's duties under Section 3132 of the law mentioned in the title to the secretary of state. The section in question is entitled "Updated Plan for Verification and Monitoring of Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and Fissile Material" and requires the president to submit a plan to relevant congressional committees on the verification and monitoring of the potential for proliferation of nuclear weapons and materials within 90 days of the law's enactment. That means the report is theoretically due on March 22.
Who It Will Affect: This puts more responsibility onto Secretary of State Rex Tillerson—although how much and with how little notice relative to the delivery date for this report remains unknown as of publication. Regardless, it seems like a weird ask for a department whose budget the president just proposed slashing by almost a third and which therefore faces diminished capacity.

March 17
Proclamation 9: National Poison Prevention Week, 2017
What It Will Do: This is another perfunctory proclamation. Ever since the early 1960s, when politicians latched onto the shocking prevalence of accidental poisoning, Congress has authorized presidents to observe a National Poison Prevention Week every third week of March. It reflects on the fact that, while awareness over the past few decades has drastically reduced incidents of and death from accidental poisonings, society can do more to cut down on these tragedies. The federal Health Resources and Services Administration has issued a planner for incorporating poisoning prevention into everyday life and details a few awareness-raising and tool-providing events.
Who It Will Affect: Anyone who actually pays attention to this proclamation can make good use of the materials provided by poison prevention agencies and groups to reduce the risk of tragic accidents for themselves or others in their lives. But most people will just ignore it.

March 16
Presidential Memorandum 14: A Letter from the President to The Speaker of the House of Representatives
What It Will Do: This memorandum is really just a letter amendment to a long-expected supplemental spending request. So the action itself doesn't really do much. The request it introduces asks Congress to appropriate $30 billion extra dollars for the Department of Defense and $3 billion for the Department of Homeland Security for fiscal year 2017. (The 2017 budget was never finalized, and the government is currently running on a "continuing resolution," perpetuating the previous year's funding levels for a while.) This is separate from the $54 billion DoD spending boost proposed in Trump's initial 2018 budget plan, although the memorandum likewise suggests paying for this funding by slashing other discretionary domestic spending.
Who It Will Affect: If Congress decides to take up the supplemental budget and passes it as is, the DoD would get a $24.9 billion boost to its base budget for general upgrades and a $5.1 billion bump to a fund for overseas operations to scale up anti-Islamic State actions and Afghanistan security actions. Homeland Security would get $1.5 billion for Trump's infamous border wall and more funds for general border security, immigration agent hiring, and immigrant detention facilities. But Congress has no obligation to adopt Trump's proposal
For More: Read about Trump's budget proposal

March 13
HR 609: To Designate The Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Center in Center Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania, As The "Abie Abraham VA Clinic"
What It Will Do: Exactly and exclusively what it says in the title.
Who It Will Affect: Anyone familiar with the life and works of Abraham—a Bataan Death March survivor who volunteered to disinter and identify the bodies of those who died in that brutal war crime and subsequently documented the events in historical works and devoted himself to veterans' issues—this will be a welcome gesture. But that's about the extent of it.

Executive Order 17: A Comprehensive Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch
What It Will Do: This order, despite its grandiose title, is an exceptionally short and simple document. It directs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to develop a plan for improving the efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability of the federal government. The Director is directed to focus on cutting "unnecessary" agencies or some of their components or programs; the order specifies that "unnecessary" means anything adjudicators believe could be better handled by states or private firms, anything redundant, anything that's not sufficiently cost-efficient, and anything that wouldn't cost too much to merge or shut down. Every executive agency head is required to submit a plan for reorganizing itself within 180 days of the order. The Director will then solicit public comment for an unspecified number of days. Another 180 days after this comment period concludes, the Director is expected to submit a full plan to the president detailing administrative or legislative actions needed to make it a reality.
Who It Will Affect: The order creates a lot of work for OMB Director Mick Mulvaney, who is currently up to his eyes in American Health Care Act shenanigans, and the heads of some 440 agencies. But beyond that it is, for now, mostly more signaling of the administration's stated commitment to shrinking government. America already has waste-fighting programs—a 2010 law requiring an annual accounting of pointless or duplicate government spending has already saved taxpayers tends of billions, so it's unclear how much the OMB will find to slice. And no matter what they find, most real changes will have to be cleared through Congress.
For More: Read about how much money the government has spent in Afghanistan

March 6
Proclamation 8: Proclaiming March 5 Through March 11, 2017, As National Consumer Protection Week
What It Will Do: This is yet another routine action—an annual week dedicated to helping people better manage their money and make informed decisions in the market. This year, the White House has decided to focus on helping consumers learn to secure their privacy and information in the digital sphere against cybercrimes like fraud or identity theft. As VICE News points out, this is a bit ironic given that the Trump administration has rolled back or opposed not just general consumer protection rules in favor of business interests, but also at least one regulation geared toward improving consumer cybersecurity. So this perfunctory announcement, in the Trump team's hands, actually serves to shift the onus of consumer protection onto consumers, who must educate and protect themselves—and by omission seemingly reinforces the current administration's aggressively pro-big-business policies.
Who It Will Affect: Unlike most of Trump's proclamations, which just encourage people to think about a subject for a spell, this week features educational campaigns and resource distribution on personal cybersecurity. You can learn more about said resources here.
For More: Read about the mixed messages Trump is sending on consumer protection.

Executive Order 16: Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States
What It Will Do: This is the long-awaited replacement to the "travel ban" that the courts suspended last month. First and foremost, this order is meant to cover the Trump administration's collective ass, providing more justification for the most controversial policy the president has put forth so far. Before revoking the previous iteration of the order, Trump explains that the seven nations previously banned from travel were designated as conflict zones, state sponsors of terror, or subject to a revocation of visa waiver programs in past government actions. He also cites legislators' concerns about visa and refugee vetting procedures and notes that the FBI is investigating 300 people who entered the US as refugees as counterterror targets (officials reportedly declined to any specify details on these investigation). But after all that throat-clearing, here's what the order actually does:


Presidential Memorandum 13: Implementing Immediate Heightened Screening and Vetting of Applications for Visas and Other Immigration Benefits, Ensuring Enforcement of All Laws for Entry into the United States, and Increasing Transparency Among Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government and for the American People
What It Will Do: This action is basically a companion to the new travel ban. It calls for more stringent and rigorous vetting of foreign nationals for security concerns before they enter the US. The departments of Homeland Security, Justice, and State are urged to implement whatever new protocols or procedures they can under existing law that they feel would improve screening. They, alongside other relevant agencies, are also empowered to issue new rules, regulations, and guidances to strengthen old or new enforcement provisions. Homeland Security and State are also instructed to issue monthly reports on the number and type of visas issued, disaggregated by country, alongside any other information they deem important to the American people; the first report (at the end of April 2017) will detail all visas issued from the day of the memorandum's issuance onwards. Reports are also to be issued every 90 days on any changes in existing visa-holders' or immigrants' status or benefits. Other relevant agencies are instructed to issue a report within 180 days on the long-term costs of hosting refugees in America at the federal, state, and local levels and recommendations on how to reduce those costs. Another report is to be issued on the comparative costs of hosting refugees long-term in their nation of first asylum—where the landed immediately after fleeing their homelands.
Who It Will Affect: Basically this seems to be a directive that will make it harder to enter the country or stay in by changing visas statuses and provide ammunition to those on the anti-immigration right who want to trumpet the costs of refugees without noting the benefits.


March 1
Proclamation 7: Proclaiming March 2017 as Women's History Month
What It Will Do: Presidents have proclaimed March as Women's History Month every year since 1987. This proclamation reaffirms America's commitment to promoting women's full access in all aspects of life in the nation and to advancing women's issues around the world. Interestingly, while the National Women's History Project chose this year to focus on women in American labor and business history, Trump chose to name-drop a mix of entertainers, civil rights leaders, and career trailblazers in his proclamation—but didn't do much to recognize women involved in labor rights advocacy.
Who It Will Affect: Anyone who wants to pause to reflect on women's history in March.

Proclamation 6: Proclaiming March 2017 as American Red Cross Month
What It Will Do: Presidents have recognized American Red Cross Month every year since World War II. Trump specifically commended the organization for its role in provisioning America's blood donation supply, educating Americans in life-saving techniques, and its direct role over the past year in responding to dozens of humanitarian incidents.
Who It Will Affect: If you've been meaning to donate to, take a class with, or otherwise get involved with the Red Cross, this might give you a little nudge to do so.

Proclamation 5: Proclaiming March 2017 as Irish American Heritage Month
What It Will Do: Presidents have recognized Irish-American Heritage Month every year for over a quarter-century now. Trump's proclamation acknowledges the role of Irish Americans in the Revolutionary and Civil wars, the foundation and operation of old cottage industrial and blue-collar industries, and the creation of a distinctive American culture. He also uses some bootstrap language about the Irish providing an example of people pulling themselves out of poverty.
Who It Will Affect: Ideally, stopping to think about Irish-American history ought to force Trump to take a long, hard look at his own views and policies on immigration. On the other hand, it won't.

February 28
Executive Order 15: To Promote Excellence and Innovation at Historically Black Colleges and Universities
What It Will Do: Out of context, this order seems to do a lot. It establishes a White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) with a director designated by Trump to work with government agencies, philanthropic organizations, educational associations, and other groups to help HBCUs. It also directs some government agencies to find ways to strengthen HBCUs and orders the formation of committee of relevant stakeholders. But most of this infrastructure was already in place under a 2010 executive order "Promoting Excellence, Innovation, and Sustainability at Historically Black Colleges and Universities," which this order nullifies and replaces. So really, this order mostly makes tweaks to some of these administrative bodies that serve HBCs. It also singles out more specific priorities, like improving educational infrastructure and stabilizing HBCU finances.
Who It Will Affect: This order falls far short of the priorities HBCUs identified in their dealings with the Trump administration in December. But it's still likely to benefit HBCUs overall. These institutions had a notoriously fraught relationship with the Obama administration, which was seen as less than optimally receptive to their needs and requests. Some individuals involved in HBCU advocacy say they have been surprised by Trump and his team's receptiveness and have high hopes. However, strong doubts remain in other corners about just what of substance will come out of these institutions under the Trump regime, especially in light of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos's botched interpretation of HBCUs' history as supporting her school choice agenda. It's worth noting that this order is clearly linked to Black History Month and is probably a relatively safe political play at improving Trump's miserable reputation in many black communities.
For more: Read about the young black Republican-leaning voters who didn't support Trump


Executive Order 14: Restoring the Rule of Law, Federalism, and Economic Growth by Reviewing the "Waters of the United States" Rule
What It Will Do: In 2015, the Army Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency instituted a new rule adjusting the definition of waterways over which they have jurisdiction under the 1972 Clean Water Act to protect them from environmental degradation. That redefinition was based upon decisions in three Supreme Court rulings, the agencies' expert interpretations of how various waterways affect each other's health, and a lengthy consideration of public comment and stakeholder reviews. This order strikes back at that rule, requiring the Administrator of the EPA and Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works to review the rule and decide how to revise or revoke it—and any relevant orders, rules, regulations, guidelines, or policies enforcing it. The order also calls for future rules and actions to use a much narrower definition of which waters can fall under federal control. This will likely significantly reduce the scope of future water control and anti-pollution measures' effects.
Who It Will Affect: The process of reviewing and revising or revoking a federal agency rule is extremely arduous, and environmental groups and other stakeholders will fight any changes tooth and nail, so it's unclear if any actual changes will result. Still, this action conveys Trump's continued hostility to environmental regulations, which his administration views as needlessly complex and anti-business.


HJ Res 40: Providing for Congressional Disapproval under Chapter 8 of Title 5, United States Code, of The Rule Submitted by The Social Security Administration Relating to Implementation of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007
What It Will Do: This is the 115th Congress's third application of the Congressional Review Act, axing an Obama-era rule. That rule, phrased as a realization of the provisions of a 2007 law, essentially prohibited people who 1. receive disability payments from the Social Security Administration and 2. have been judged to need someone to handle their financial affairs because they are mentally ill or disabled from owning guns, although it also created an avenue to appeal that prohibition on a case-by-case basis.
Who It Will Affect: Functionally this just maintains the status quo—the rule wasn't in effect yet. But since the CRA limits agencies' abilities to make similar rules in the future, it will make it much more difficult to keep guns out of the hands of the severely mentally ill in the future. It's a victory for the gun rights lobby, which continues to push to make guns available to everyone with little to no restrictions, and which has inordinate sway over Congress. But it's worth noting that this rule was also opposed by some disability advocacy groups and the ACLU, who say that gun control measures targeting the mentally ill just stigmatize a vulnerable population, and that there are better ways to reduce gun violence.
For More: Read a disability advocate's take on the rule

HR 321: Inspiring the Next Space Pioneers, Innovators, Researchers, and Explorers (INSPIRE) Women Act
What It Will Do: The bill spends a fair amount of time recognizing the value of existing NASA programs aimed at mentoring girls and young women and inspiring them to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It then instructs the NASA administrator to explore how to continue bringing women into STEM fields through these programs. It also instructs the administrator to issue a report to two Congressional committees within 90 days on how to develop more mentorship and engagement between K-12 STEM students and science-y folks, with special focus on how to bring retired astronauts and other experts into mentorship programs.
Who It Will Affect: Hopefully this will bolster some uncontroversial and definitively beneficial NASA programs, helping to close the persistent gender gap in STEM fields. It's not an earth-shattering law, but it's a nice symbolic move could have some real impact on the lives of young women.
For More: Read about the continued difficulties faced by women in STEM fields

HR 255: Promoting Women in Entrepreneurship Act
What It Will Do: The bill starts by recognizing the gender gap in science, technology, engineering, and math professions and the low rate with which women with STEM degrees end up in STEM jobs. It then tweaks a couple bits of grammar and adds a new paragraph to the 1980 Science and Engineering Equal Opportunities Act to encourage entrepreneurial programs to recruit and support women and to help women with STEM training pursue careers in the commercial world and not just the laboratory.
Who It Will Affect: This bill is more an official recognition of reality and statement of the will and intent of Congress than anything with an immediate and substantive impact. Depending on how agencies choose to implement its tweaks to the SEEO Act, it could portend some real benefits in closing the nation's eternal STEM training and employment gap. But the specifics remain to be seen.

February 24
Executive Order 13: Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda
What It Will Do: This is another attack on federal regulation, building on Trump's executive order in January mandating a "one-in, two-out" rule for new regulations. This new order requires that federal agencies create a Regulatory Reform Officer (RRO) position within 60 days to make sure they are complying with other regulation-slashing measures. They should also all create Regulatory Reform Task Forces, which will usually be led by the RRO. The RRTFs are tasked with reviewing old regulations and flagging them for modification or elimination if they are deemed outmoded, ineffective, or inefficient—a task regulators are already supposed to be fulfilling but which critics claim they are being lazy about. Rules to be slated for the axe under the "one-in, two-out" rule are to be prioritized. Agencies will issue regular reports—the first within 90 days of the order—to demonstrate their progress on this matter.
Who It Will Affect: As with the one-in-two-out rule, it's possible this order could fail to achieve much of substance, since it doesn't actually mandate that regulations flagged for removal should be removed; that process is often incredibly complex and difficult in practice. Efforts to streamline regulations would probably be welcomed by observers across the political spectrum. But Trump's conviction that up to three-fourths of all regulations are bunk and his overall rhetoric, repeated during the order's signing, suggest that he hopes to use this order more like a wood chipper than a scalpel. It's yet another bold-sounding affirmation of his simplistic anti-regulation crusade; we'll see if it has an impact.
For More: Read about how Republicans are gutting rules and helping big business.

February 16
HJ Res. 38: Disapproving the Rule Submitted by the Department of the Interior Known as the Stream Protection Rule
What It Will Do: This nullifies a 2,000-plus-page December rule implemented after years of review by the Department of the Interior's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE). The rule intended to update vague language in the 1977 Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act to protect 6,000 miles of streams and 52,000 acres of forest from environmental degradation due to mining by better defining degradation, more aggressively monitoring mines, and creating buffers between mining operations and forests and streams. Basically this legislation is a reversal of an environmental regulation enacted in the waning days of the Obama administration.
Who It Will Affect: If you listen to the mining industry, blocking this ruling will help to save 78,000 coal-mining jobs and up to 200,000 more related energy-industry jobs and avoid needless environmental regulations and bureaucratic bloat. If you believe the OSMRE's painstaking analyses of the rule's impact, it will expose vast tracts of wilderness to potential contamination, cost the American people millions in climate and ecological damage, and have a negligible impact on coal-mining jobs, coal prices, or industry revenues. (The coal industry is on the decline, regardless of what the government does.) On a political level, the mechanism used to nullify this rule—the 1996 Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to axe recently implemented federal regulations with a simple majority vote and has only been used once before in 2001—indicates that America is in for a congressional crusade against regulations from the late Obama era.
For More: Read about environmental activists fighting the coal industry in West Virginia.

February 14
HJ Res 41: Providing for Congressional Disapproval Under Chapter 8 of Title 5, United States Code, of a Rule Submitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission Relating to "Disclosure of Payments by Resource Extraction Issuers"
What It Will Do: This nullifies another Obama-era rule—this one issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission in July. The rule was mandated in a bipartisan amendment to Dodd-Frank, the post-financial crisis overhaul of US financial regulations, which basically demanded that US companies file reports on their deals with foreign governments for access to natural resources in an attempt detect and deter the suspicious business they've often been investigated for. Now they won't have to.
Who It Will Affect: According to the petroleum and resource-extraction industry, this will prevent a costly burden being imposed on them. According to people generally suspicious of that industry, axing that rule will make an already murky and suspect area of the economy even shadier. It also defies a trend of Western nations demanding more transparency from these companies.
For More: A guide to the ABCs of the financial industry

February 9
Executive Order 12: Providing An Order of Succession within The Department of Justice
What It Will Do: This revokes one of Obama's last executive orders, issued on January 13, which itself switched up the order of succession for the attorney general. Trump's order leaves in place the current status quo for Jeff Sessions's first few potential replacements in the event of his death, removal, or resignation: the deputy attorney general, the associate attorney general, and anyone else the attorney general should designate. But it specifies that after these individuals Sessions should be succeeded by, in this order: Dana Boente, the US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia (who served as acting attorney general after Trump ousted Obama appointee Sally Yates over her refusal to defend his travel ban); Zachary Fardon, the US attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Tammy Dickinson, the US attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
Who It Will Affect: If nothing happens to Sessions anytime soon, this won't matter at all. It may just be an extreme precaution, since Sessions's immediate successors have yet to be appointed or designated, to make sure that people Trump approves of would fill his post in case of any eventuality.

Executive Order 11: On a Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety
What It Will Do: This instructs new attorney general Jeff Sessions to form a task force with the somewhat vague purpose of reducing illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and violent crime by identifying deficient policies, legislation, or crime-data resources and coming up with new initiatives. These will be presented to the president in at least one annual report.
Who It Will Affect: Right now, this just gives Sessions one more thing to do in his first days in office. It seems to mostly be a way of demonstrating how tough on crime Trump plans to be.

Executive Order 10: Preventing Violence Against Federal, State, Tribal, and Local Law Enforcement Officers
What It Will Do: This tells the attorney general to review existing laws regarding crimes against law enforcement and figure out how to better prosecute them. Sessions is also instructed to review and reconsider Department of Justice grants available for improving law enforcement safety and to consider new legislation on the issue, including potentially defining new violent crimes for prosecution or creating mandatory minimum sentences for existing crimes.
Who It Will Affect: Again, right now, this mostly puts some work on Sessions's plate. In the past, Trump has talked about making killing a police officer a death penalty crime, but something that radical would require Congress to pass a law. But it does show Trump wants to pursue pro-cop policies generally.


Executive Order 9: Enforcing Federal Law with Respect to Transnational Criminal Organizations and Preventing International Trafficking
What It Will Do: This order places the attorney general, secretary of homeland security, director of national intelligence, and whoever else they deem necessary to involve in charge of the Threat Mitigation Working Group, created in 2011 by Barack Obama to identify transnational organized criminal (TOC) groups, like international drug cartels, that pose a threat to America. The group is tasked with figuring out how to improve information sharing between and support for various law enforcement and other federal agencies to better address TOC activities in the US. The order tasks them with reporting to the president within 120 days on their ideas and strategies, and once a year thereafter on their progress; they will also have to issue public reports every quarter on convictions related to TOCs.
Who It Will Affect: Yet again, this order only really immediately makes work for a few individuals in the federal government. The broader impact on society will largely depend on the ideas they generate—if any of them are substantive—months or even years out from today.

February 3
Presidential Memorandum 12: [Delaying And Investigating the Impact of] the "Fiduciary Duty Rule"
What It Will Do: Quick primer: All but a few of the financial service advisors (FSAs) in the nation are not by nature bound by fiduciary duties. That means they have to recommend you appropriate financial services, like retirement plans, but not the best ones for you. They can push products that give them the biggest commission, even if it's more expensive or less effective than other options, and they don't even need to tell you, for example, that the mutual funds they want you to invest in also give them money. A 2015 Obama administration study found that this was costing Americans $17 billion a year in unnecessary retirement account expenses. So in April 2016, the administration initiated work on the "fiduciary rule," set to go into effect this April, to bind FSAs offering 401(k) or individual retirement accounts to fiduciary duties. Naturally, some business interests disagree with this rule, saying that it will impose compliance costs on them. So they've sued to block the rule; a decision on that case is expected within the month. This memorandum instructs the Department of Labor to review it to see if it is consistent with his administration's goals. Specifically it asks the department to check whether the rule would disrupt retirement service markets or restrict Americans' access to these services. If so, the department is supposed to propose the revocation or revision of the rule.
Who It Will Affect: Since the rule wasn't even in effect yet and was already on the judicial chopping block, functionally no one. But if the Trump administration eventually strikes down this rule, financial advisors will remain free to act in ways contrary to their clients' best interests—meaning you should be very careful when dealing with people who want to manage your money.
For More: Read some bad news about how Wall Street handles retirement accounts.

Executive Order 8: On Core Principles for Regulating the United States Financial System
What It Will Do: Although this made a lot of splashy headlines about Trump's reported intent to dismantle core elements of 2010's Dodd-Frank Act, the Wall Street reforms designed to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial collapse, this order actually does very little. It tells the Treasury to chat with the heads of the Financial Stability Oversight Council and, within 120 days, report back on what "existing laws, treaties, regulations, guidance, reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and other Government policies" promote the administration's financial regulatory priorities, what is inhibiting them, and what might be done to better facilitate the administration's priorities. This is incredibly vague code for, "We're just taking a quick gander at what we might want to do with respect to Dodd-Frank and other financial regulations." Some of the elements of this regulatory infrastructure Trump can affect by executive action, or inaction in a failure to enforce it. Some of it he'd have to work with Congress to restructure, though.
Who It Will Affect: No matter how vague the meat of this order is, the signaled intention to cut financial regulations has led to a small spike in Wall Street stock prices. And the task will consume a fair amount of bandwidth in the Treasury Department. But the effects on the wider population will depend on just what it recommends and what Trump decides and is able to change in America's financial infrastructure. The most dramatic outcome would be Trump attempts to gut regulations and make it easier for big banks to engage in risky, self-serving behaviors, readily inviting a new 2008—which Trump's team may not think is really a risk at all.
For More: Read about how Trump's economic plan is going to benefit Wall Street.

February 2
Proclamation 4: [Proclaiming] February as American Heart Month
What It Will Do: In late 1963, a joint congressional resolution urged the president to issue an annual proclamation declaring February as American Heart Month to honor the lives lost to heart disease and resolve to improve its prevention, detection and treatment. Since then, February has been American Heart Month. For a while, February 3 has been National Wear Red Day, which is specifically to show support for women with heart disease. Trump is continuing both those traditions.
Who It Will Affect: Anyone who likes that there's to be a month all about hearts.

February 1
Proclamation 3: National African American History Month, 2017
What It Will Do: This is a routine proclamation following a long presidential history of calling for the annual recognition and deeper exploration of the often-neglected contributions of African Americans to the development of America. This year, Trump name-dropped the works of Katherine Johnson, Madam C.J. Walker, and Robert Smalls—twice. He also used the order to focus on education, stressing the right of African American children like all other Americans to "quality educational opportunities."
Who It Will Affect: As with any presidential proclamation on a holiday or month of observation, this affects anyone who chooses to observe it but has little more force than that.

January 31
HR 72: GAO Access and Oversight Act of 2017
What It Will Do: A fairly uncontroversial bill, this affirms that the Government Accountability Office—the federal government's internal auditor—has the right to obtain whatever agency records it deems necessary for an investigation. To enforce this, the GAO is empowered to take civil actions against recalcitrant agencies. (It is also empowered to access databases of recent federal hires, though that may be a mostly moot point as long as Trump's federal hiring freeze is in place.) Finally, it requires that agencies planning to act on GAO recommendations submit their plans to relevant congressional committees and the GAO for review.
Who It Will Affect: This is pretty inside-baseball stuff that will mostly affect the GAO and the agencies it looks into.

January 30
Executive Order 7: Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs
What It Will Do: Trump, like many Republicans, believes there is an incredible amount of redundancy, overlap, and pointlessness in federal regulations. So now whenever a federal agency (exempting the military and national security) recommends a regulation, it cannot (unless granted an exemption in case of an emergency) institute it until it has identified two relations under its purview for elimination. Notably, nothing in the language of the order guarantees that those identified regulations will actually be cut. Given how many regulations are put in place by law and the discretionary power agencies have, that makes the one-in-two-out provision arguably toothless. The order also imposes an annual cap on the cost of new regulations—for the rest of fiscal year 2017 that cap will be $0. But the order does not specify how cost will be evaluated and instead just calls for relevant agencies to figure out how to evaluate them. It does not appear, from the text of the order, that the Trump administration is willing to weigh the benefits of a regulation against its immediate costs, which may make pure cost evaluations misleading and stymie useful regulations.
Who It Will Affect: Trump claims this order will make it far easier for small businesses to open and expand. If it actually does get rid of some regulations, then that's probably true. Yet while there may well be a number of redundant or obsolete regulations that could use pruning, the flaws in this order and limitations of law may lead to a lot of busy work for agencies and roadblocks to useful regulations. Even if the order were not so squidgy and fraught, it'd still be a hacksaw approach to a scalpel issue. Mostly, the order formalizes the anti-regulation, pro-business stance of the Trump administration. It may slow regulation just by creating further logjams for federal agencies now capped at their current size and capacity.
For More: Here's How Republicans Plan to Kill Net Neutrality, Climate, and Labor Rules.

January 28
Presidential Memorandum 11: [Regarding the Development of a] Plan to Defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
What It Will Do: This instructs relevant agencies to come up with a draft plan within 30 days for defeating ISIS. (So much for Trump already having that great secret plan to defeat ISIS ready to go.) It also requests the military to reconsider its rules of engagement and identify any restrictions that go beyond international law for how aggressively it might act.
Who It Will Affect: Until a plan is developed, this just sends defense and military personnel scurrying to produce some fresh documents. (Obviously, the US was already engaged in plenty of anti-ISIS operations, which will continue.) However, the language of the memorandum, combined Trump's ominous "maybe we'll have another chance" to take Iraq's oil comment a few days back, seem to indicate that he could be eyeing a much more aggressive intervention in Iraq and Syria.
For More: Watch the VICE News Tonight segment about ISIS's expansion to Afghanistan.

Presidential Memorandum 10: [Regarding the] Organization of the National Security Council and Homeland Security
What It Will Do: With several esoteric tweaks to meeting structures and protocols, Trump reshuffled the internal workings of the National Security Council and Homeland Security. Wonks have described the move as mainly a reversion to the Bush-era administration with a few adjustments—notably icing out government agencies with an environmental focus. But hidden within the guts of the memorandum is a provision to give Chief-of-Staff Reince Priebus and chief strategist (and alt-right media tycoon) Stephen Bannon seats in regular National Security Council meetings, while downgrading the status of the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and director of national intelligence. Granted a regular seat at meetings by Bush and Obama, they now will only attend meetings where their "responsibilities and expertise" are relevant.
Who It Will Affect: In the short-term, this is entirely insider baseball, relevant only to officials in the agencies involved. But the elevation of Bannon, who reportedly had a major hand in drafting the first wave of executive orders, has drawn a lot of attention—as it represents another sign of his power in the Trump White House. As for what that means, only time will tell.
For More: Read about Bannon's roots in right-wing politics.

Executive Order 6: Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Appointees
What It Will Do: The order stipulates that former registered lobbyists appointed to government posts should not within two years do anything related to their old lobbying activities. Those leaving the administration should not become registered lobbyists interacting with the agencies they were once involved with for five years—and not lobby any covered executive branch official for the duration of the Trump administration. No former executive appointee can become a registered lobbyist for a foreign nation for life. No member of the administration should accept gifts from registered lobbyists. Violations can lead to further limits on future lobbying and perhaps to a lawsuit as well, as the oath is construed as contractual. Trump or anyone he designates can dispense waivers to parts of or the whole oath, though.
Who It Will Affect: The pledge in some ways expands on a 2009 Obama order, which, while using similar language on gifts and lobbying covered branches for the duration of the administration, only barred former officials from contact with their old agencies for two years and did not mention or a lifetime foreign lobbying ban. However critics have pointed out that the Obama-era rule more aggressively locked ex-lobbyists out of agencies they'd once lobbied and in some respects seems to go softer on non-Cabinet-level appointees. As in the Obama era, loopholes and waivers may lessen the impact of the order. And some speculate this will just give a jolt to the field of shadow lobbying, in which people arguably skirt the edges of what is officially considered lobbying and do not register their activities to circumvent such pledges.

January 27
Presidential Memorandum 9: Rebuilding the US Armed Forces
What It Will Do: The order instructs the Pentagon to review its capabilities and empowers Secretary of Defense James Mattis, alongside the Office of Management and Budget, to review various aspects of military readiness. It's clearly intended to be a precursor to increasing the military budget—though Congress is the branch of government in charge of the budget. It also seems to ask the Pentagon to develop a national security strategy, which is odd, experts told Defense News, because that's not usually the Pentagon's purview. (This could be another example of a poorly worded executive action.)
Who It Will Affect: The military, who may see more resources directed their way—pending congressional action—and in any case will have to figure out exactly what Trump wants them to do. If military spending does end up being increased, taxpayers will foot the bill one way or another.
For More: Read about the largest military agency you've never heard of.

Executive Order 5: Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States
What It Will Do: This far-reaching order appears to be Trump's way of fulfilling his campaign promise of establishing "extreme vetting" of refugees and also temporarily halts all immigration from several Muslim-majority countries. It stops all refugee inflow for 120 days; after that, the Department of State and other government agencies will devise unspecified new and better vetting procedures for refugees. (It's worth noting that vetting for refugees is already robust.) Syrian refugees are blocked from coming to the US indefinitely because Trump believes they are "detrimental to the interests of the United States." The total number of refugees set to come to the US in 2017 is revised downward from 110,000 to 50,000. Citizens from Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Sudan (and maybe Libya, Yemen and Somalia) are prohibited from entering the US for 90 days—after that, they can only come if their governments share information with the US about those prospective visitors, which some of those countries are unlikely to do for a variety of reasons. It also orders the government to "prioritize refugee claims made by individuals on the basis of religious-based persecution," which appears to be a nod to Trump's desire to continue to bring in Christian refugees from Syria. To top it all off, it requires relevant authorities to, once every 180 days, gather and publish information on the number of foreign nationals in America who have been convicted of terroristic offenses, the number and types of gender-based acts of violence committed by foreigners in the nation, and the number of foreigners radicalized in America. The stated justification for all of this is that citizens of these countries could be potential terrorists and the Trump administration is working to prevent another 9/11—but the 9/11 terrorists were citizens of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Lebanon, which are not prevented from entering the US by this order.
Who It Will Affect: Refugees, of course, will now have to endure greater danger since they will be barred from the US at least temporarily—Syrian refugees especially are now in limbo. But regular citizens of countries like Iran who have family or friends in the US will also suffer, as they are now separated from their loved ones. In particular, many Iranians have ties to the US and have trips planned to America; the famous Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti had already announced that she was canceling her appearance at the Academy Awards even before Trump signed the order. In addition, citizens of these countries who permanently live in the US are now unsure if they can visit their homelands and then return to America. All in all, it is an immediate and sudden disruption to the lives of many thousands of ordinary people. Trump and his allies insist that this will make the US safer, but refugees have not historically been a threat to Americans—and critics say it will only encourage further terrorist attacks. The order has been widely criticized for being a "Muslim ban" by another name, and CAIR plans to sue the government in protest. Many see this perceived Islamophobia as playing into ISIS's hands, since the terrorist group will now be able to further portray the US government as being anti-Muslim—a "clash of civilizations" narrative that is also endorsed by many in the Trump administration. It remains to be seen what new vetting procedures are put in place or in what ways they will be stricter than the old ones.
U pdate : The New York Times reports that two refugees from Iraq—including a man who had worked for the US military—were detained at New York City's J.F.K. Airport. They had been on their way to America before the order was signed.
Update: After some confusion, the administration now says that this order doesn't apply to green-card holders.
For More: Read about how refugees have been placed in an impossible position.

January 26
Proclamation 2: National School Choice Week 2017
What It Will Do: Just a week after he declared his own inauguration a day of patriotism, Trump has unilaterally declared another one-off commemoration. He is inviting parents to "evaluate educational opportunities available for their children" and lawmakers to consider measures to "expand school choice for millions of additional students." Unfortunately for those who would have liked to think about this stuff, even as he declared it into existence, National School Choice Week was already almost over. It retroactively started on January 22 and runs through January 28.
Who It Will Affect: Anyone who wants to think about the cause of school choice.
For More: Read about New Orleans's experiment in charter schools.

January 25
Executive Order 4: Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements (Including Advancing the Construction of a Large Physical Barrier on the Southern Border)
What It Will Do: Yes, this is the famous wall. As some have speculated for a while, the Trump administration is saying the 2006 Secure Fence Act (and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act) gives the Department of Homeland Security to build whatever infrastructure it deems necessarily to control the borders. Although Trump will need Congressional approval to fully fund the project, which will cost between $8 and $25 billion (the order calls for the creation and proposal of a firm budget), the order instructs the relevant authorities to assess what existing appropriations can be diverted to the project ASAP. It also calls for planning, designing, and building the wall to begin "immediately," and authorizes border control forces to enter federal lands—which may help them to circumvent some environmental concerns around the wall. In a kicker, Trump also instructs relevant agencies to report to him within 60 days with a breakdown of all federal aid money or assistance the government of Mexico has received from the US each year for the past five years. That could be the beginning of an attempt to force Mexico to pay for the wall, as Trump promised. More broadly, it directs relevant agencies to "deploy all lawful means to secure the Nation's southern border, to prevent illegal immigration into the United States, and to repatriate aliens swiftly, consistently, and humanely." That means 5,000 border patrol agents will be added, state and local law enforcement officers will be authorized to act as immigration officers, and new detention centers we be opened. It also discards the Bush and Obama era "catch-and-release" policy in favor of aggressive, pervasive, and expedited prosecution and removal. Trump promised more draconian policies on undocumented immigration; here they are.
Who It Will Affect: When construction starts on the wall,a few construction jobs could result. But the effects it will have on border communities will be far longer-lasting than that—landowners could have their property seized through eminent domain, the habitats of wildlife would be destroyed, and, of course, ladder sales will likely spike. More border officers (and deputized law enforcement officers) will likely mean more deportations of undocumented immigrants; how America's overburdened and underfunded immigration courts will hold up remains to be seen.
For More: Watch the VICE News report on how ineffective the existing border wall is.

Executive Order 3: Enabling Public Safety in the Interior of the United States
What It Will Do: This instructs relevant authorities to review the streams of federal money moving toward "sanctuary cities"—municipalities that, to varying degrees, don't cooperate with immigration officials in their deportation efforts—and how those funds can be severed in a bid to force compliance with federal immigration policies. (The Secretary of Homeland Security is empowered to define sanctuary cities as he sees fit.) Weekly reports will be issued to the public listing criminal acts committed by aliens and detailing jurisdictions that ignored or "failed to honor any detainers with respect to such aliens." It also empowers agencies to act with as much legal force as possible to penalize and remove aliens, and eliminates the Priority Enforcement program in favor of restoring the old Secure Communities program. Relevant authorities are told to prioritize deportation of, in this order: criminal offenders, those charged with criminal offenses, those that could be charged, those who have misrepresented themselves, those who have abused public benefits programs, those who have not complied with orders for removal, or anyone else deemed a threat. That's a lot of potential deportees. The Department of Justice is instructed to provide resources for their prosecution. There's even more: It establishes an office for advocacy for the victims of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants, which will issue quarterly reports. It also calls for the collection of the immigration status of all incarcerated individuals, and indicates that the government will penalize any foreign nations if they refuse to take back citizens deported from America.
Who It Will Affect: As "sanctuary city" is an imprecise and partially informal term, it is not clear what criteria the Trump administration will use or whether any streams of federal funding will be off limits for cuts. However, at least 165 jurisdictions are likely in the defunding crosshairs; one report figured that Denver alone could stand to lose up to $175 million in federal funds if it does not comply. Individual jurisdictions will have to decide whether to give up federal money or let the feds deport undocumented immigrants, potentially breaking up families and disrupting communities. Some mayors in liberal cities have vowed their towns will remain sanctuaries and have promised to help undocumented immigrants. Beefing up internal immigration enforcement more broadly will also likely lead to a spike in deportations. This will flavor a number of impending negotiations with other nations as well—especially those soon to come with Mexico.
For More: Read about how one small town in Iowa is helping undocumented immigrants.


January 24
Presidential Memorandum 8: To Advance the Construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline
What It Will Do: First proposed in 2008, the Keystone XL pipeline was supposed to more efficiently transport hundreds of thousands of barrels of Canadian oil into the United States. In November 2015, John Kerry's State Department killed the project —which had by then become a major target of protests from climate activists—deciding that it would not lead to a meaningful increase in jobs or a decrease in gas costs. But as many suspected, Trump wants to bring Keystone back. This order invites the company behind the pipeline, TransCanada Corporation, to resubmit the project application for review and instructs the State Department to rapidly review it—reportedly within the space of 60 days, to the extent that is possible.
Who It Will Affect: Assuming the intention is to approve Keystone, the order is a boon to TransCanada—which has seen a stock-price boost already. Environmentalists will likely organize to block the pipeline, as will many landowners in Nebraska who don't like the idea of the pipeline invading their backyards. The project, if it gets built, may give a few thousand people short-term construction jobs, but it might negatively impact climate change.
For More: Read About a Recent Leak in an Existing TransCanada Pipeline.

Presidential Memorandum 7: To Advance the Construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline
What It Will Do: The Dakota Access pipeline is the one that was supposed to cut across the Standing Rock Sioux reservation and was met by massive resistance. Eventually, the Army Corps of Engineers decided not to grant an easement to the company behind the pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners, blocking the pipeline. The corps then launched an environmental review, leading to the consideration of alternate routes. Trump's new order instructs the corps to complete its review and approve a route for the pipeline as quickly as the law permits. In other words, the fight is back on.
Who It Will Affect: The corps will have to decide how to follow these instructions, but the Standing Rock Sioux were already gearing up to block the pipeline again. Lawsuits, protests, and confrontations are likely to result. (Even if the pipeline gets built, it likely will have a negligible impact on job creation, energy security, and gas costs. Standing Rock residents are concerned that it will pollute the water they rely on.)
For More: Read about the veterans who came to Standing Rock.

Presidential Memorandum 6: To Promote the Use of Domestic Materials in the Upgrade or Construction of Domestic Pipelines
What It Will Do: This just tells the secretary of commerce to, within 180 days, develop a plan to make sure that domestic materials (specifically iron and steel) are, as often as possible, used—well it's all in the title. In the short term, it's a symbolic show of support for US manufacturing from the Trump administration.
Who It Will Affect: If Commerce can come up with an enforceable and practical plan, then this is likely good news for steel and other US manufacturers. Even then, the effect on America's waning steel industry is contingent on the materialization of pipeline projects.
For More: Read about the Standing Rock water protectors.

Executive Order 2: Expediting Environmental Reviews and Approvals for High Priority Infrastructure Projects
What It Will Do: Basically, Trump's just telling the individuals in charge of reviewing the environmental impact of infrastructure projects to speed up as much as they can on projects deemed especially important. Given how much of the current process is enshrined in law, it's not clear how the bodies involved can speed things up. It is a signal of the Trump administration's commitment to lessening what it sees as unnecessary, burdensome regulations.
Who It Will Affect: For now, the order will send some bureaucrats scurrying about. Until they decide what's in their power to do, though, there will be no wider impact.