Policies & Analysis

A USDA official gave agency staff just one day to identify and archive or unpublish any landing pages focused on climate change from USDA-operated websites.

On January 30, USDA Director of Digital Communications Peter Rhee directed his staff to identify and archive or unpublish any landing pages focused on climate change by the end of the following day. The USDA subsequently removed numerous webpages containing vital public resources and information about climate-smart agriculture, forest conservation, climate change adaptation, investment in clean energy projects in rural America, and more. Organizations focused on farming and the environment sued to challenge the removal of these websites. On May 12, 2025, the government agreed to restore the data to government websites and to provide updates to the court on their progress and next steps.

This order baselessly attributes a January 29, 2025 plane crash in Washington, D.C. to the hiring of FAA employees with disabilities.

On January 29, 2025, American Airlines Flight 5342 and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter tragically collided over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., killing all 67 individuals on board both aircraft. The next day, President Trump issued this memorandum baselessly blaming the crash on federal diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives and particularly singling out employees with disabilities in the Federal Aviation Administration. The memorandum orders the Secretary of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administrator to review all FAA hiring decisions and safety protocol changes made during the last four years and replace anyone who does not meet unspecified qualification standards. FAA employment data from 2023 reflects that 64% of the FAA's air traffic controllers were white men and that less than 1% of the FAA's entire workforce had disabilities considered severe.

This order encourages investigations of campuses where post-October 7th protests occurred.

This order denounces anti-Semitism in the wake of the October 7, 2024 attack. However, rather than suggest forward-looking measures to combat antisemitic discrimination, the order concerns only backward looking investigations of events on university campuses. In particular, it directs the Attorney General to review past complaints around campus protest and "encourages" the AG to bring or intervene in cases as a result.

This order expands the capacity of Guantanamo to house migrants to the U.S.

This order directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to expand capacity at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay to hold migrants to the U.S.. Reports say President Trump wants the capacity to expand to 30,000, but has not explained how the United States will pay for the expansion or the needs of the migrants detained.

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This order would end K-12 federal support for schools and programs that teach so-called “divisive concepts" or have gender affirming practices for students.

This order operationally defines six divisive concepts as “discriminatory equity ideology” including, but not limited to, accurate understandings of racism, meritocracy, oppression, and sexism. It directs the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Education (Ed), and Defense (DoD) to develop plans within 90 days to eliminate federal funding or support for any K-12 school that supports or subsidizes these concepts in any curriculum or teacher training, as well as any interference in parental rights to information. The order also directs the Attorney General to coordinate in criminalizing teachers who aid in the social transition of students, and establishes the 1776 Commission to teach so-called "patriotic education." This order will likely have a chilling effect in K-12 schools' ability to educate children accurately on American history, especially the history of marginalized groups. It may lead to material changes in the training and licensure programs of teachers, particularly those which consider how race relations impact school dynamics.

This order siphons money from struggling public schools for the benefit of private entities

This executive order directs the Secretary of Education to submit guidance within 60 days on how states can use federal funds to support K-12 so-called educational choice initiatives and within 90 days, the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Education must issue guidance to use discretionary grant programs to allegedly expand choice. It also orders the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue guidance on how states receiving block grants can use them to expand educational choice, "including private and faith-based options." Lastly, it also orders a review within 90 days of school choice for military-connected families and for students eligible to attend Bureau of Indian Education schools. This order will siphon federal money that should have been for public schools to unaccountable private corporations with little to no oversight. These subsidies for mostly wealthy families will also hurt students and magnify existing educational inequalities.

The memo gave most civil servants 9 days to resign from their jobs and supposedly be paid through September 2025, or face the possibility of losing their jobs without compensation.

On January 28, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a memo that gave most civil servants until February 6 to resign from their jobs and supposedly be paid through September 2025, or face the possibility of losing their jobs without compensation. The memo followed a return-to-office directive that had already put many federal workers in difficult positions and indicated that most of the federal government would be downsized through restructurings, realignments, reductions in force, furloughs, and reclassification to at-will employment status. In short, the offer to people who deliver vital programs and protections for the American people was stark: if you don't take this deal, you may lose your job with nothing. After issuing an initial temporary restraining order that paused the deadline for civil servants to respond, a district court judge allowed the program to proceed, and OPM, without notice or warning to any federal workers, terminated the program on February 12.

The Trump Administration withheld funds that Congress appropriated for aiding democracy world-wide.

In late January, the Trump Administration blocked the National Endowment for Democracy from accessing money administered by the Department of State in an account held by the Department of the Treasury. The National Endowment for Democracy's funding is separate from the foreign aid funding the Trump Administration has tried to pause by executive order. The inability of the National Endowment for Democracy to access its funding from Congress has forced it to stop funding millions of dollars of projects strengthening democratic institutions around the world. Its grantees have had to end their work building a free press, documenting human rights abuses, combatting corruption, and ensuring fair elections in dozens of countries. This funding pause will diminish efforts to protect and promote democracy worldwide.

This order threatens providers of gender-affirming healthcare with loss of federal research and education grant funds, and potential enforcement of unrelated criminal laws.

This order is a full-throated attack on the ability of transgender youth to access gender-affirming medical care, even when their parents and doctors agree that such care is in their best interest, and even though similar procedures are allowed for cisgender individuals. The order directs the federal government to take immediate steps to ensure that any institution receiving federal research or education grants does not provide puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy, or gender-affirming surgery to anyone under the age of 19 (including 18-year-olds, who are legally adults). It also directs agencies to rescind guidance based on the WPATH Standards of Care, the leading medical authority on gender-affirming healthcare standards. It directs the Attorney General to weaponize the enforcement of unrelated laws, like those prohibiting consumer fraud and female genital mutilation, against the provision of gender-affirming healthcare. The order also contains numerous instructions for other federal agencies to roll out over time.

The President illegally fired two Democratic members of the EEOC allegedly for not "operating in a manner consistent with the objectives" of his administration.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is an independent agency, historically led by five bipartisan commissioners, that enforces federal laws prohibiting workplace discrimination and promoting equal employment opportunities. The President fired two Democratic commissioners, claiming their leadership was not consistent with the priorities of his administration. The termination has been challenged in federal court.

On January 27th, 2025, President Trump illegally fired Democratic members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board.

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) is an independent executive agency that was established on the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission. Its purpose is to advise the executive branch on privacy and civil liberties concerns stemming from the fight against terrorism. Since its founding, the board has provided critical oversight to protect civil rights and combat abuse of surveillance powers. The independence of the board is essential to its mission. President Trump's illegal firing of the members of the board represents a threat to its ability to perform this crucial service. So far, a district court has issued an injunction blocking the firing.

This order aims to eliminate all diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in the military, including banning teaching so-called "divisive concepts" at military academies.

Repeating the false claim that diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives discriminate on the basis of race and sex, this order seeks to end these programs in the military (including at military academies). It directs the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security to abolish all diversity, equity, and inclusion offices within their respective departments. It prohibits the Department of Defense and the Armed Forces from teaching about systemic racism, sexism, and gender variation, instead requiring them to teach that "America and its founding documents remain the most powerful force for good in human history." And, it orders the Secretary of Defense to conduct an internal review of past actions taken in pursuit of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.