Policies & Analysis

This order threatens to defund cities and states that choose not to spend their resources on immigration enforcement, prosecute state and local officials, and cut funding to NGOs.

This memo outlines how the Department of Justice (DOJ) will be targeting states and localities that choose not to expend their resources on federal immigration enforcement, which DOJ inaccurately describes as "willfully fail[ing] to comply with ... applicable federal immigration laws." First, DOJ will require all states and localities applying for federal law enforcement grants to certify their compliance with a narrow statute that prohibits states and localities from adopting a policy that prevents state or local officials from sharing with, or receiving, from the federal government "information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual." Existing "sanctuary" policies do not violate section 1373 and adding additional conditions to DOJ grants was widely found to be unlawful in the first Trump administration. Second, the memo directs DOJ to identify and pause for 60 days all funding to organizations that "support or provide services to removable or illegal aliens," while the Department reviews the funding to determine whether to end it entirely. The memo does not acknowledge the Department's obligation to spend money appropriated by Congress for the purposes identified by Congress. Finally, the memo threatens to prosecute state and local officials who decline to engage in federal immigration enforcement under a federal conspiracy statute, a statute that criminalizes the harboring or concealing of unauthorized noncitizens, and the non-criminal section 1373.

This order seeks to ban transgender girls from participating on girls' sports teams and from girls' locker rooms, and discourages trans inclusion in international competitions.

This executive order seeks to ban transgender girls from girls' sports teams and locker rooms in the name of protecting girls, but it does just the opposite. These bans harm all girls, including cisgender girls, by subjecting them to increased gender policing and arbitrary and invasive investigations. This order also harms intersex and nonbinary students as it increases surveillance of their bodies. The order directs the Secretary of Education to weaponize Title IX's protections against sex discrimination and bring enforcement actions against schools that allow transgender girls to participate on girls' sports teams or use girls' locker rooms, threatening the loss of federal funding for schools that do not comply. This is despite the fact that many federal courts have held that Title IX protects transgender students, and that the Supreme Court has held that discrimination on the basis of gender identity is a form of sex discrimination in an analogous civil-rights context. The order also directs the Secretary of State to rescind support for and participation in sports programs that allow trans women on women's teams, including the Olympics (which the United States is set to host in Los Angeles in 2028). And, it directs the Secretary of State to promote these discriminatory interests internationally, including at the United Nations.

The Trump administration has targeted and purged FBI and DOJ officials who played a role in investigations and prosecutions related to January 6th.

Since Donald Trump took office on January 20th, 2025, the administration has summarily removed Justice Department (DOJ) prosecutors from their positions who played a role in investigations and prosecutions related to the January 6th insurrection. And there has been a concerted effort to target and remove Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents who aided in these investigations and prosecutions, and even potentially to expose these agents' names to the public. This purge of law enforcement officials reinforces that no one will be held accountable for the events of January 6th. It also politicizes DOJ and the FBI. The potential exposure of the FBI agents' names could jeopardizes the lives of these agents and other federal government officials who have been unfairly attacked simply for doing their jobs.

This order largely repeats American policy on Iran, including sanctions and stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear capabilities.

This order largely restates longstanding U.S. policy towards Iran. It highlights sanctions, although Iran is already heavily sanctioned. It directs the UN Ambassador to highlight the Iranian threat, which ambassadors of both parties have routinely highlighted. And it states that U.S. policy is to deny Iran a nuclear weapon, although President Trump withdrew America from the successful Iran nuclear deal during his first term which likely accelerated Iran's efforts to obtain a nuclear weapon.

This order withdraws the U.S. from UNHRC, stops all U.S. funding to UNRWA and UNHRC, and orders a review of all international treaties and intergovernmental organizations.

This executive order directs the Secretary of State to reevaluate the United States’ commitment to three United Nations (UN) organizations: the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC); the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). The United States will no longer participate in the UNHRC, and U.S. government agencies are directed to not use any funds for a contribution, grant, or other payment to UNRWA and to withhold UN funding that would go to UNHRC. Within 180 days of the issuance of the order, the Secretary of State and the U.S. Representative to the UN are directed to conduct a review of all international intergovernmental organizations of which the United States is a member and all conventions and treaties to which the United States is a party to determine which are contrary to the interest of the United States and whether they can be reformed.

"Department of Government Efficiency" officials have swept through federal agencies, compromising data systems and undermining the privacy of millions of Americans.

Since Donald Trump assumed the presidency on January 20th, staff with Elon Musk's so-called "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE) have swept through federal agencies across the government, compromising data systems, and undermining the privacy of millions of Americans. As examples, DOGE has accessed some of the most protected information systems housed at the Treasury Department, the Office of Personnel Management, the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services (including the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services), Social Security Administration, and numerous others. There is a risk that Musk will use this data to give an advantage to his own business ventures. There is also a risk that his team has fed the data into an AI system with unknown privacy protections.

The Trump administration has taken a series of actions to illegally dismantle USAID.

Since January 20th, President Trump and his administration have taken a series of actions to dismantle the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in violation of federal law. Shortly after taking office, the administration issued stop-work orders on USAID foreign assistance awards. Secretary of State Rubio was subsequently named Acting Director of USAID. Elon Musk's so-called "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE) has played a key role in this effort. DOGE staff reportedly demanded access to classified USAID systems without requisite security clearances; USAID security officials who attempted to block them were placed on administrative leave. Elon Musk posted on February 3 that he spent the previous weekend “feeding USAID into the wood chipper,” and that same day, USAID headquarters shut down. The consequences of the above actions have been catastrophic. USAID provides life-saving food, medicine, and support to hundreds of thousands of people across the world. It also supports U.S. farmers by buying U.S. agriculture to distribute internationally.

This order calls on the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce to develop a plan to establish a sovereign wealth fund.

This order calls on the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce to develop a plan within three months to create a government-owned investment fund. The order directs the secretaries to investigate possible funding mechanisms, investment strategies, and governance models. We do not know how the fund will obtain money, as sovereign wealth funds are typically created by countries with little to no debt and which make an income from their country's natural resources. We also do not know what the plan is for the sovereign wealth fund, though President Trump suggested that it might be used to purchase TikTok. Without safeguards, sovereign wealth funds can be tools of corruption and conflicts of interest. This order is likely to continue to grow the role of the federal government in the economy, allowing Trump and his personal allies to use government money to support corporations they like at the expense of other Americans.

This order imposed tariffs on Canadian imports but was later paused.

This executive order further expanded President Trump's declaration of a national emergency at the Southern border (EO 10886) to include the Northern border with Canada. It then imposed 25% tariffs on most Canadian imports in response, creating conditions for an escalating trade war. The EO was paused two days later after Canada made gestures toward addressing the flow of fentanyl to the U.S and threatened to impose retaliatory tariffs.

This order imposes additional tariffs on imports from China based on President Trump's expanded declaration of a national emergency.

This executive order further expands President Trump's declaration of a national emergency at the Southern border (EO 10886) to include the flow of fentanyl from China. It uses this emergency declaration to impose additional tariffs on all goods imported from the country. This EO has already caused confusion, with USPS stopping and then restarting the acceptance of packages from China and Hong Kong. Along with expected increases in the prices of imports that would increase costs for U.S. consumers, China has already announced retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports and an antitrust investigation into Google.

Several federal agencies deleted government websites containing information for health practitioners on contraception, HIV prevention, and more.

On January 31, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration – two agencies within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – abruptly deleted a broad range of health-related data and other information from their public-facing websites, including resources identifying risks to youth health, HIV prevention, and contraception access. This was in response to guidance from the Office of Personnel Management directing agencies to delete all public-facing resources that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion and so-called gender ideology. The deleted information includes crucial resources for doctors and researchers seeking to provide patients with the best possible care and develop clinical studies that produce accurate results. A group of health professionals and medical trainees has sued to challenge the deletion; a temporary restraining order has been granted stopping the removal of this data; and a motion for summary judgement is pending.

This order attempts to undo lawfully negotiated collective bargaining agreements between the government and unions representing public servants.

This order takes issue with collective bargaining agreements that were lawfully negotiated near the end of the Biden Administration between that administration and federal employees. President Trump asserted without any legal basis that he has the power to undo such agreements ratified in the last 30 days of the prior administration, but he does not.