President Trump – First 100 Days

On Friday, January 20th Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. It is the 58th inauguration and the 72nd time the oath of office has been administered to an incoming president.

At 70 years old, Trump breaks Ronald Reagan’s record as the oldest president to ever take office and is now the third president born in 1946, following George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Trump is also the first president since Dwight Eisenhower with no prior elected office experience, and the first ever to have no government or military service.

Trump will enter the White House with Republicans controlling 241 House seats and 52 Senate seats, the largest majorities for an incoming GOP president since Herbert Hoover in 1929. Clinton and Barack Obama enjoyed larger Democratic majorities in both chambers upon becoming president but lost those advantages in ensuing midterm elections

Now that he has officially taken residence in the White House here’s what we could expect in his first 100 days.

Health Care… As in repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Still working on the replace part. However, as one of Trump’s first acts as President he signed an executive order late Friday giving federal agencies broad powers to unwind regulations created under the Affordable Care Act, which might include enforcement of the penalty for people who fail to carry the health insurance that the law requires of most Americans.

The executive order, signed in the Oval Office as one of the new president’s first actions, directs agencies to grant relief to all constituencies affected by the sprawling 2010 health-care law: consumers, insurers, hospitals, doctors, pharmaceutical companies, states and others. It does not describe specific federal rules to be softened or lifted, but it appears to give room for agencies to eliminate an array of ACA taxes and requirements.

Supreme Court…as in there’s been a job opening on the bench for almost a year and Trump is ready to fill it. He’s said he’s considering a list of right-leaning names.

Trade…as in Trump wants to renegotiate NAFTA (the ’90s trade deal between the US, Canada, and Mexico). And then he wants to pull out of the TPP. That’s the trade deal between the US and 11 other Pacific Rim countries (countries that border the Pacific Ocean like Canada, Japan, Mexico) that President Obama put together. The aim was to open up trade between countries that produce almost half of the world’s goods and services. Critics on both sides of the aisle point out that this could hurt US workers by sending jobs overseas. One of those very loud critics is Trump.

Trump announced a series of executive actions focused on trade and the federal workforce, making good on a pair of his core campaign promises.

The actions, signed at the White House, implement a federal employee hiring freeze, formally withdraw the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and reinstate a GOP-backed policy regarding foreign aid and abortion funding.

Energy…as in Trump plans to get rid of a bunch of federal rules on US energy production including oil, gas, and coal put in place to fight climate change. He’s said he’ll also make it easier for oil pipelines (such as the, Keystone XL) to move forward. Trump says this would boost job creation.

Lobbying ban…as in Trump wants the ‘revolving door’ between K Street and the US gov to swing a little slower. He’s calling for a five-year ban on White House and Congressional staffers taking lobbying jobs after they leave. He also wants a lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying for foreign governments.

Immigration…as in Trump will move to “cancel all federal funding to Sanctuary Cities” – aka cities that allow undocumented immigrants to stay without fear of being prosecuted or deported. He’s also said he’ll start deporting about two million undocumented immigrants with criminal records. And that he’ll hit ‘pause’ on immigration from regions with a history of terrorism that do not vet people coming into the US. He’ll also practice “extreme vetting” for all immigrants.