Response Center
Real-time analysis of Trump-Vance administration actions, to support legal challenges and provide resources for the pro-democracy community.
Featured Policies & Analysis
Policies we're monitoring especially closely given their potential impact to people and communities throughout the United States.
Latest Policies & Analysis
Fire the head of the government's whistleblower protection office
This action purports to fire Hampton Dellinger, the head of the Office of Special Counsel, which investigates internal government whistleblower complaints and prevents corruption.
The Office of Special Counsel exists to protect whistleblowers and other employees inside the government who call out improper and corrupt conduct. It was created after Watergate as part of the series of reforms to guarantee an independent, protected civil service that benefits the people, not the party in power or the personal interests of the president. For that reason, the head of the office serves a five-year term regardless of who holds the presidency, and can only be removed for good reason. The Trump Administration tried to fire Hampton Dellinger, the current Special Counsel, in a one-line email with no justification.
Allow U.S. companies to commit bribery abroad
This order suspends enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prevents companies from committing bribery abroad.
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act prohibits U.S. companies from paying bribes to foreign officials to get or maintain business. It is a vital tool in the U.S. fight against corruption abroad, which ultimately benefits democratic principles of transparency and rule of law, as well as U.S. customers and the U.S. national interest. It also projects the U.S. commitment to the rule of law abroad and ensures companies do not play an ever escalating game of incurring bribery costs. This order directs the Attorney General to halt any new investigations and review existing ones for 180 days, which can be extended even further.
Allow U.S. companies to commit bribery abroad
This order suspends enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prevents companies from committing bribery abroad.
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act prohibits U.S. companies from paying bribes to foreign officials to get or maintain business. It is a vital tool in the U.S. fight against corruption abroad, which ultimately benefits democratic principles of transparency and rule of law, as well as U.S. customers and the U.S. national interest. It also projects the U.S. commitment to the rule of law abroad and ensures companies do not play an ever escalating game of incurring bribery costs. This order directs the Attorney General to halt any new investigations and review existing ones for 180 days, which can be extended even further.
Intimidate states and cities by illegally clawing back money already given to them.
The Trump Administration has taken back federal money that it already distributed to the City of New York while threatening to deprive other cities and states of funding.
The Trump Administration seemingly illegally seized money from a City of New York bank account. FEMA had distributed the funds to New York through a program to keep migrants from becoming homeless. Trump and Elon Musk had been critical of the housing program, but have pointed to no authority that would allow them to seize funds from the bank account.
Politicize Independent Agencies
This order gives the Trump White House direct control over agencies that Congress created to be independent from politics.
This order gives the White House direct control over agencies that Congress decided should be independent and insulated from politics, like the Federal Election Commission and Government Accountability Office. This order forces all rulemaking and other regulatory actions from independent agencies to go through the White House and Attorney General, which is not the current process. It threatens to hold up funding to independent agencies that don't implement “the Presidents policies and priorities.” It allows the White House to set performance standards for independent agency heads, which could create pretexts to unlawfully fire them. One concerning example might be the Federal Election Commission: this EO attempts to unlawfully change the definition of "agency" to include the Federal Elections Commission without Congressional approval.
Reduce TPS for Haitians by 6 months
This Notice immediately reduces the validity of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) granted to citizens and nationals of Haiti by 6 months.
This DHS Notice immediately reduces the time period of the temporary protected status (TPS) designation and extension for Haitians that the Biden administration granted in June 2024. Now, instead of expiring in February 2026, Haitians' TPS will expire in August 2025. The Trump-Vance administration's main justification for this decision is that "the ever-increasing population of Haitian TPS recipients" is contrary to the national interests of the United States. Although the Notice does not explain why the presence of Haitians is contrary to the national interest, it alludes to false narratives of gang violence and negative effects on U.S. workers and communities. These narratives build on the debunked claims made by then-candidates Trump and Vance about the Haitian community in Springfield, OH.
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