Response Center

This DHS policy expands a fast-track deportation process called "expedited removal" so that it applies nationwide to immigrants who have been in the country less than two years.

"Expedited removal" is a fast-track deportation process that was created via legislation in 1996. Since then, the government has applied it only at the U.S.-Mexico border and only to immigrants who entered the country recently — within the previous two weeks. The first Trump administration tried to expand expedited removal to its statutory limits — nationwide, to immigrants in the country for less than two years. Now, they are doing it again. Any immigrant anywhere in the U.S. who was not admitted or paroled into the country and who cannot affirmatively prove that they have been here more than two years will be subject to a fast-track deportation system that lacks critical due process safeguards, including for people who fear persecution in their home countries.

This memo exploits loopholes to enable hiring of an unlimited number of temporary political staff across federal agencies

Typically, there are limitations on the number of temporary political appointees that a new Administration can hire. There are exceptions, which are intended to be limited. Under this guidance, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has exploited the exceptions to allow agencies to hire an unlimited number of temporary political staffers (known as "Schedule C" positions) who can work for 120 days, with the agency able to extend for another 120 days. The guidance also allows agencies to fill up to 25% of positions at the "Senior Executive Service" (SES) level with temporary noncareer appointments not to exceed 30 days. In other words, the Administration claims it can leverage previously narrow exceptions to bring unlimited numbers of temporary political appointees into the highest levels of government.

This order encourages agencies to put career staff on paid leave or reassign them new or vague duties, and requests a list of easily-terminated federal workers.

Under this guidance, agencies have until Friday, January 25, to provide to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) a report of all employees who are subject to termination without cause (i.e., those on probationary periods and temporary appointments). Agencies are further directed to consider which of them should be retained. This guidance also encourages agencies to make broad use of administrative leave (paid time off) in connection with agency restructuring or to manage the agency’s work. The guidance also encourages agencies to reassign employees, including to an unclassified set of duties, to facilitate agency restructuring or management.

Underway

Updated:

1/23/25

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This memorandum calls for rerouting water from California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to other parts of the state.

This memorandum directs the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Interior to make progress on routing water from Northern California to Central and Southern California, purportedly to fight wildfires, within 90 days. Officials and experts have said water supply is not a problem Los Angeles faces in fighting recent fires, so this order is unlikely to improve California's wildfire management abilities. Additionally, it is likely to harm the already endangered populations of smelt, salmon, and steelhead in the state, causing irrevocable damage to California's biodiversity and critical habitats.

Underway

Updated:

1/23/25

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This memorandum designates membership, staffing responsibilities, and meeting procedures for the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council.

This memorandum is the first in a series of National Security Policy memoranda establishing administrative procedures and reporting structures for the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council under the new administration. President Trump has appointed Rep. Mike Waltz as his National Security Advisor and Project 2025 advisory group head Stephen Miller as his Homeland Security Advisor.

Underway

Updated:

1/23/25

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This memorandum prohibits the leasing of land and the issuance of permits for wind energy projects

This memorandum prohibits the leasing of any area within the Offshore Continental Shelf for the purposes of wind energy and temporarily pauses the issuance of new or renewed approvals, permits, leases, and loans for wind projects. Taken together, these actions represent an attack on the development of the nation's largest source of renewable energy. According to the American Clean Power Association, there is enough offshore wind capacity being developed in our country to power 30 million homes. Notably, the order's prohibition of leasing land within the Offshore Continental Shelf does not apply to leases related to oil and gas.