United States of America - January 2025

Following his inauguration on 20 January, President Donald Trump embarked on a far-reaching effort to change the way that the United States government functions, principally through Executive Orders (EOs). On the day of the inauguration, President Trump signed 26 EOs; he had signed 46 by the end of January. While the use of EOs is not unique to this administration, the powers claimed by the President in many of these orders are nearly unprecedented in US-American history. The EOs that have ordered the government to halt disbursements of funds appropriated by Congress have relied on claims of executive power to intervene in the budgetary process that far exceed what has been permitted under the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act (ICA) of 1974. EOs halting the disbursement of congressionally appropriated funds for services provided by states (such as Medicaid) and official development aid distributed by agencies such as USAID were suspended through emergency orders granted by federal courts, but not before they generated destructive levels of uncertainty for the agencies affected. The lack of response from Congress to this erosion of its constitutionally mandated powers has signalled the majority’s willingness to cede these powers to the executive branch.
The President has also delegated a great deal of policy-making power to a newly established agency called the Department for Government Efficiency (DOGE). This agency is functionally led by businessman Elon Musk, although his only formal role in the US government is as an advisor to the President. The vast powers to intervene in government departments that President Trump has delegated to this agency have generated significant problems for democratic accountability and have introduced damaging levels of arbitrariness in the functioning of the government. 

Many of the EOs have been challenged in legal proceedings, contributing to further uncertainty about the content of the law and US government policy until these cases are resolved.

Sources: Federal Register, Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act, Public Broadcasting Service, National Public Radio, American Broadcasting Company News, Just Security

On 20 January, President Trump issued an executive order commuting the sentences of 14 people convicted of crimes related to the January 6 riots (members of extremist organizations Proud Boys and Oath Keepers) and granted pardons to the rest of January 6 defendants (which exceed 1,500 people), including people charged or convicted of violence against police and media and seditious conspiracy. Across the political spectrum, politicians and experts have denounced the blanket pardons for their incompatibility with accountability and the rule of law. 

Before leaving office, President Biden pre-emptively pardoned the members and staff of the congressional committee that investigated the January 6 riot (as well as Capitol and D.C. police who testified), and General Mark Milley and Dr. Anthony Fauci. He also pre-emptively pardoned five members of his family, citing the risk of them facing politically motivated prosecutions.

Sources: The White House, The Washington Post, NBC, Reuters, CNN, Biden White House Archive (1), Biden White House Archive (2)

On 29 January, President Donald Trump signed the Laken Riley Act into law. This piece of legislation establishes that undocumented migrants who are charged with crimes that involve injury or death, but also non-violent crimes such as shoplifting, should be detained and deported by federal officials, even without a conviction. It also enables state attorneys general to file lawsuits against federal government immigration enforcement policy (for example regarding the release or decision not to detain certain undocumented migrants, such as non-violent offenders). Named after a nursing school student killed by a Venezuelan migrant, the piece of legislation received bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress, although it was opposed by a majority of Democrats. It received widespread criticism, as due process guarantees and presumption of innocence are not duly considered in its provisions, and for the impact it will have on community members, including DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients. 

Sources: U.S. Congress, AP News, ACLU, NPR, CNN

President Donald Trump has moved to significantly restrict immigration and the right to seek asylum. Through executive orders, the Trump administration has declared the situation at the southern border to be a national emergency, directing the armed forces to repel undocumented migration (along with trafficking in persons and narcotics). The orders further call for the evaluation of visa programs, significantly restrict access to legal status and humanitarian protection, ending parole for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, whose legal status is now uncertain. They also suspend refugee resettlement and most decisions on applications for refugee status. Executive orders that in the previous administration sought to facilitate the reunification of migrant families have been rescinded. The move to restrict birthright citizenship, excluding children born to undocumented migrants has been particularly controversial. Rights organizations, local officials and religious organizations have filed lawsuits to challenge the constitutionality of these orders.

Sources: NBC, ProPublica, Just Security 

Executive orders issued in January determine that the US policy will be to only recognize the male and female sex, rejecting the concept of gender identity. Government-issued identification and paperwork will no longer reflect a person’s gender identity and federal agencies have been directed to issue guidance ‘protecting sex-based distinctions’ and access to single-sex spaces in settings such as prisons (where gender-affirming care will no longer be supported), detention centres and shelters. A specific order further prevents transgender people from serving in the military.

Additional executive orders have ended 'diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI) and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility’ (DEIA) programs, which have been characterized by the Trump administration as illegal discrimination. This includes the termination of all DEI, DEIA and ‘environmental justice’ positions and of the hiring of federal officials pursuant to DEI. The orders have been challenged before the courts, and in the interim have created a great deal of uncertainty for those affected by the orders. 

Sources: NBC, Just Security

An executive order issued by President Donald Trump on 20 January instructs the Attorney General not to enforce a divest-or-ban legislation regarding social media platform TikTok, for 75 days. Legislation enacted in April 2024, expressly classified TikTok as a “foreign adversary controlled application”, citing national security and data-collection and privacy. The platform petitioned for review before the Court of Appeals of the D.C. Circuit, challenging the constitutionality of the legislation on First Amendment grounds. After the D.C. Circuit denied the petition, TikTok appealed to the Supreme Court. On 17 January, the Supreme Court upheld the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, reasoning that Congress’s worries regarding national security over the platform’s data collection and relationship to China did not violate TikTok’s First Amendment rights. However, President Trump’s executive order has enabled the app to continue functioning in the United States.   

Sources: The White House, U.S. Supreme Court, CNN, New York Times