Immigration
Muslim / Travel Ban | EO 13769, EO 13780, Proclamation 9645
Barred entry from 7 then 8 Muslim-majority countries; reissued three times after successive court blocks.
Partially Upheld
The first version | EO 13769, January 27, 2017 barred nationals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days and suspended the refugee program for 120 days. It was blocked by federal courts within days on Establishment Clause and equal protection grounds. The second version | EO 13780, March 6, 2017 removed Iraq from the list and narrowed some provisions but was also blocked by federal courts finding the same anti-Muslim intent. A third version | Proclamation 9645, September 24, 2017 expanded the list to include Chad, North Korea, and Venezuela and was structured to be facially neutral. The Supreme Court upheld it in Trump v. Hawaii | 2018 5-4. Chief Justice Roberts held that the president had broad statutory authority under 8 U.S.C. § 1182 | f and that the record of religious animus did not invalidate a facially neutral policy. Justice Sotomayor's dissent compared the majority's reasoning to Korematsu.
DACA Rescission Attempt | September 2017
Attempted to terminate Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals protections for approximately 700,000 people.
Blocked
DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced the rescission of DACA in September 2017 with a six-month wind-down. The Supreme Court blocked it in DHS v. Regents of the University of California | 2020 5-4, ruling the rescission was arbitrary and capricious under the APA — the agency failed to adequately consider reliance interests built up over years. The Court did not address whether DACA itself was lawful. Biden reinstated the program in 2021; the Fifth Circuit later ruled DACA unlawful and the legal fight over the program continued into Term Two.
Zero Tolerance / Family Separation Policy | April 2018
Prosecuted all adults crossing the border illegally, separating approximately 5,500 children from their parents as a deliberate deterrent.
Reversed by EO
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the zero tolerance policy in April 2018, directing federal prosecutors to criminally charge all adults crossing the border — including asylum seekers. Because children cannot be held in criminal detention under the Flores Settlement Agreement, they were separated and placed in HHS custody. Trump reversed the policy by executive order in June 2018 after sustained public outcry and reporting on conditions. Reunification was chaotic — the government had no system tracking family units. A Biden administration task force found hundreds of children still unaccounted for, with parents already deported. Courts found multiple due process violations throughout the operation.
Asylum Ban at Southern Border | 2018–2019
Attempted to bar asylum claims from anyone who crossed the border outside an official port of entry.
Blocked
The administration issued a rule in November 2018 barring asylum claims from individuals who entered the US between ports of entry. The 9th Circuit blocked it as directly conflicting with INA Section 1158, which explicitly states that any person may apply for asylum regardless of manner of entry. The Supreme Court allowed a temporary version to go into effect pending litigation in a 5-4 vote. The rule was ultimately struck down. The administration pursued multiple variations on the same restriction throughout Term One; each was blocked on the same statutory grounds.
Remain in Mexico / Migrant Protection Protocols | January 2019
Required asylum seekers to wait in Mexico pending US immigration court proceedings rather than being released into the US.
Enacted; Biden Ended; Term Two Reinstated
The Migrant Protection Protocols, announced January 24, 2019, required non-Mexican asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their US immigration cases were processed. More than 70,000 asylum seekers were returned to Mexico, many forced to wait in dangerous border cities for months or years. Human rights organizations documented widespread violence, kidnapping, and sexual assault against MPP enrollees. Biden terminated MPP in 2021; SCOTUS ruled 5-4 in Biden v. Texas | 2022 that Biden could terminate it. Term Two reinstated MPP on day one.
Sanctuary Cities Defunding Threat | EO 13768, January 2017
Directed the withholding of all federal funding from jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
Blocked
Signed January 25, 2017. District Judge William Orrick | N.D. Cal. issued a nationwide injunction in April 2017, finding that the president exceeded constitutional authority — only Congress may attach conditions to federal spending under Article I. The 9th Circuit upheld the injunction. The Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal. A narrow version limited to specific DOJ grant conditions was eventually upheld in separate litigation, but the sweeping across-the-board defunding mechanism was permanently blocked. Term Two reimposed a version of the same policy, triggering new litigation.
Public Charge Rule | August 2019
Expanded the "public charge" ground for denying green cards and visas to include use of Medicaid, food stamps, and housing assistance.
Partially Upheld; Biden Rescinded
Issued August 2019, the rule dramatically expanded the definition of "public charge" — a longstanding basis for denying immigration benefits — to include recipients of non-cash benefits like Medicaid, SNAP, and Section 8 housing. Courts blocked it in multiple circuits. The Supreme Court allowed it to go into effect in a 5-4 vote in January 2020. It led to widespread "chilling effects" — immigrants avoiding health care and food assistance for fear it would affect their immigration status. Biden rescinded the rule in 2021.
End of Temporary Protected Status for Multiple Countries | 2017–2019
Terminated TPS designations for El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Nepal, and Sudan — affecting approximately 300,000 people.
Partially Blocked; Mixed Outcomes
The administration terminated TPS for six countries between 2017 and 2019, affecting approximately 300,000 people who had lived and worked legally in the US for years or decades under the program. Courts blocked the terminations for most countries, finding the decisions were infected by discriminatory intent — in part based on Trump's own statements about "shithole countries." Courts ordered a halt pending litigation. The Supreme Court declined to take up the case. Biden extended TPS for most affected countries when he took office.
Executive Power / Federal Workforce
Schedule F | EO 13957, October 2020
Reclassified federal employees in "policy-related" positions as at-will employees, stripping civil service protections and enabling mass dismissal.
Enacted Term One; Revoked Biden; Reinstated Term Two
Signed October 21, 2020 — two weeks before the presidential election. Created a new "Schedule F" classification for federal workers in positions involving policymaking, policy advocacy, or policy implementation. Employees reclassified under Schedule F would lose civil service protections and could be dismissed without the procedural requirements of the Civil Service Reform Act. Estimates of affected employees ranged from 50,000 to over 100,000. Biden revoked it on day one via EO 14003. Trump reinstated it on day one of Term Two. The constitutional question: does Congress's Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 constrain the president's Article II removal authority?
Federal Union Executive Orders | EOs 13836, 13837, 13839, May 2018
Limited collective bargaining rights, official time, and grievance protections for federal employees and their unions.
Partially Blocked; Partially Upheld
Three executive orders signed in May 2018 directed federal agencies to renegotiate collective bargaining agreements, restrict union representatives from using official government time for union activities, and limit employee grievance procedures for performance-related removals. A DC District Court initially blocked several provisions as violating the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute. The DC Circuit later upheld the core provisions, finding they fell within the president's statutory management authority. Project 2025 called for reinstating all three in full. Term Two has moved aggressively to implement their provisions.
Ethics Pledge for Executive Branch Personnel | EO 13770, January 2017
Required executive branch appointees to sign a lobbying ban and imposed a 5-year ban on lobbying the agency they worked for after leaving.
Enacted
Signed January 28, 2017. Required all executive branch appointees to sign an ethics pledge including a 5-year ban on lobbying their former agency after leaving government. Critics noted the administration waived the pledge for numerous officials when convenient and that enforcement was inconsistent. Biden revoked the order and replaced it with his own, broader ethics pledge. The revolving door between the Trump administration and lobbying firms remained active throughout Term One despite the order.
Trade & Economic Policy
Withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership | EO 13788, January 2017
Withdrew the United States from the 12-nation TPP trade agreement on Trump's first full day in office.
Enacted
Signed January 23, 2017. The TPP was a 12-nation trade agreement negotiated by the Obama administration covering 40% of global GDP. Trump withdrew on his first full working day. The remaining 11 countries went forward with a modified version — the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership | CPTPP — without the US. Critics argued the withdrawal ceded economic leadership in the Asia-Pacific to China, which was excluded from TPP. Biden did not rejoin.
Steel and Aluminum Tariffs — Section 232 | March 2018
Imposed 25% tariffs on steel and 10% on aluminum on national security grounds, applied broadly including to allied nations.
Enacted
Announced March 8, 2018 following a Commerce Department Section 232 investigation. Applied to essentially all trading partners — including the EU, Canada, Mexico, Japan, and South Korea — triggering retaliatory tariffs on US agricultural and manufactured goods. The WTO ruled the tariffs violated international trade commitments. The legal controversy: Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 authorizes tariffs only to protect national security, but the administration used it as a broad economic tool against allies who pose no genuine security threat. This set a precedent that Term Two expanded dramatically.
China Trade War — Section 301 Tariffs | 2018–2020
Imposed tariffs of 7.5–25% on approximately $370 billion in Chinese goods over allegations of IP theft, forced technology transfer, and unfair trade practices.
Enacted
The USTR launched a Section 301 investigation in August 2017, finding China engaged in unfair IP practices. Tariffs were imposed in four tranches between July 2018 and September 2019, covering most Chinese imports. China retaliated with tariffs on approximately $110 billion in US goods, heavily targeting agricultural products — causing significant harm to American farmers. A "Phase One" deal was signed January 15, 2020, requiring China to purchase $200 billion in additional US goods over two years. China fell significantly short of its commitments. Biden maintained most of the tariffs. Term Two escalated them substantially.
USMCA — United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement | 2018–2020
Renegotiated NAFTA with Canada and Mexico, adding new rules on dairy market access, automobile manufacturing, and labor and environmental enforcement.
Enacted
After threatening to withdraw from NAFTA entirely, the administration renegotiated the agreement over 13 months. The USMCA was signed November 30, 2018 and ratified with strong bipartisan support — passing the House 385-41 and Senate 89-10 in January 2020. Analysts broadly viewed it as a modest NAFTA update: the most significant changes were dairy market access concessions from Canada, new rules of origin requirements for automobiles | requiring 75% North American content, strengthened labor enforcement mechanisms, and a 16-year sunset clause requiring renegotiation.
Deregulation
Two-for-One Deregulation Order | EO 13771, January 2017
Required federal agencies to eliminate two existing regulations for every new regulation they issued, and freeze net regulatory costs at zero.
Enacted
Signed January 30, 2017. Required agencies to offset any new "significant regulatory action" by eliminating at least two existing regulations and to keep net regulatory costs at zero for fiscal year 2017 and negative thereafter. In practice, the administration used the order to justify rolling back environmental, financial, labor, and consumer protection regulations. Biden revoked the order on day one. The administration claimed it saved hundreds of billions in regulatory costs; critics noted many of the rolled-back regulations protected worker safety, public health, and consumer rights.
Regulatory Freeze and Review | January 2017
Froze all pending federal regulations and required agency heads to review all regulations issued in the prior year.
Enacted
On January 20, 2017, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus issued a memo freezing all pending regulations. This is standard practice for incoming administrations. The freeze was combined with the two-for-one deregulation order and a directive requiring agency heads to review all regulations from the prior administration. Together these measures halted or reversed dozens of regulations across environmental protection, financial oversight, workplace safety, and consumer protection.
Expediting Environmental Reviews for Infrastructure | EO 13807, August 2017
Created a "one agency, one decision" framework designed to speed up federal environmental review and permitting for infrastructure projects.
Enacted
Signed August 15, 2017. Directed agencies to complete environmental reviews within two years and designated a lead agency for each project. Part of a broader effort to speed infrastructure permitting by reducing NEPA review requirements and streamlining interagency coordination. Critics argued it weakened environmental protections and limited community input on projects affecting low-income and minority communities. Biden revoked it and issued a replacement directive on environmental justice.
Environment & Energy
Paris Climate Agreement Withdrawal | Announced June 2017
Withdrew the United States from the 2015 Paris accord on greenhouse gas emissions reductions.
Completed; Biden Rejoined; Term Two Withdrew Again
Announced June 1, 2017, but the Paris Agreement's own terms required a three-year waiting period before formal withdrawal. Withdrawal became effective November 4, 2020 — the day after Election Day. Biden rejoined on his first day in office by executive order. Trump withdrew again on day one of Term Two. The constitutional question: does the president have unilateral authority to exit international agreements that were structured as executive agreements — deliberately avoiding Senate ratification — and does Congress have any role in that decision?
Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth | EO 13783, March 2017
Directed agencies to review and rescind regulations that "burden" domestic energy production, including the Clean Power Plan.
Enacted
Signed March 28, 2017. Directed EPA to review and suspend Obama's Clean Power Plan. Also rescinded the social cost of carbon metric used in regulatory analysis, directed Interior to resume coal leasing on federal lands, and instructed agencies to avoid using climate considerations in their regulatory analyses. Served as the foundational directive for the administration's rollback of climate and energy regulations across the government.
Clean Power Plan Repeal / Affordable Clean Energy Rule | 2017–2021
EPA repealed Obama's Clean Power Plan limiting coal plant emissions and replaced it with a far narrower rule.
ACE Rule Struck Down
EPA officially repealed the Clean Power Plan in June 2019 and replaced it with the Affordable Clean Energy rule, limiting EPA authority to measures at individual power plants rather than system-wide grid transformation. The DC Circuit struck down the ACE rule in January 2021. The Supreme Court then took up the underlying CPP question in West Virginia v. EPA | 2022, ruling 6-3 that EPA lacked authority to mandate grid-wide energy transitions under Section 111 | d of the Clean Air Act. In doing so, the Court established the "major questions doctrine" — requiring explicit congressional authorization for executive actions of major economic or political significance.
Dakota Access Pipeline and Keystone XL Pipeline | EOs, January 2017
Directed completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline and approval of the Keystone XL pipeline over Indigenous and environmental objections.
DAPL Enacted; Keystone XL Killed by Biden
Signed January 24, 2017. The DAPL order directed the Army Corps of Engineers to expedite review and approval of the final easement needed to complete the pipeline under Lake Oahe. Courts subsequently found the environmental impact statement for the pipeline was inadequate, especially regarding the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's treaty rights. The Army Corps eventually completed a new EIS. Biden revoked the Keystone XL presidential permit on his first day; the pipeline's developer TC Energy sued under USMCA investment provisions seeking $15 billion in damages.
Withdrawal from the UN Green Climate Fund | 2017
Declined to honor the US commitment to contribute $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund for developing nations' climate adaptation.
Enacted
As part of the Paris Agreement withdrawal announcement in June 2017, Trump stated the US would not fulfill its $3 billion pledge to the Green Climate Fund, of which $1 billion had already been delivered under Obama. The US was the world's largest donor to the fund. The withdrawal significantly hampered developing nations' ability to fund climate adaptation and renewable energy projects. Biden resumed US contributions in 2021.
Rollback of Obama-Era Methane Rules | 2017–2019
Directed Interior and EPA to roll back regulations limiting methane emissions from oil and gas operations on federal lands and from new oil and gas facilities.
Partially Enacted
The administration moved to rescind Obama-era BLM rules limiting methane waste from oil and gas on federal lands and EPA rules limiting methane from new and modified oil and gas facilities. Courts blocked some rollbacks as inadequately justified under the APA. The DC Circuit vacated the BLM methane rule rollback. Biden restored methane regulations in 2021; they were then strengthened through the Inflation Reduction Act's methane fee provisions.
Healthcare
ACA Repeal Attempts | 2017
Multiple Senate attempts to repeal or replace the Affordable Care Act failed, most dramatically when the "skinny repeal" failed 51-49.
Failed in Congress
The House passed the American Health Care Act in May 2017 after multiple failed attempts. The Senate voted three times on varying repeal proposals, all failing. The "skinny repeal" — intended as a procedural vehicle to get to a conference committee — failed 51-49 on July 28, 2017 when Senators John McCain, Lisa Murkowski, and Susan Collins voted no. McCain's thumbs-down vote became iconic. Following the legislative failure, the administration pursued regulatory and litigation routes: eliminating the individual mandate penalty through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act; cutting off cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers; and filing amicus briefs in Texas v. US arguing the entire ACA should be struck down. SCOTUS upheld the ACA in California v. Texas | 2021 7-2.
Minimizing the Economic Burden of the ACA | EO 13765, January 2017
Directed agencies to provide maximum flexibility to states and individuals to avoid ACA requirements pending repeal.
Enacted
Signed January 20, 2017 — the first executive order of the Trump presidency. Directed HHS and other agencies to exercise maximum discretion to waive, defer, or grant exemptions from any ACA provision that imposed a burden on states or individuals. In practice, it allowed agencies to stop enforcing certain ACA requirements and to approve state waivers that weakened coverage standards. Critics argued it damaged the ACA risk pool by allowing healthier people to opt for cheaper, less comprehensive coverage.
Cutting Off ACA Cost-Sharing Reduction Payments | October 2017
The administration stopped making cost-sharing reduction payments to health insurers, destabilizing ACA markets.
Enacted; Reversed by Courts
On October 12, 2017, Trump announced the administration would stop making cost-sharing reduction | CSR payments to health insurers — approximately $7 billion per year — that helped low-income enrollees afford out-of-pocket costs. A federal court had previously ruled in House v. Burwell that these payments required a congressional appropriation, which had not been made. Insurers responded by raising premiums sharply. Paradoxically, this caused federal subsidy costs to rise significantly because subsidies are tied to benchmark plan premiums, ultimately costing the government more money than simply paying the CSRs.
National Security & Foreign Policy
Withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Deal — JCPOA | May 2018
Withdrew the United States from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and reimposed comprehensive sanctions on Iran.
Enacted
Announced May 8, 2018. The JCPOA, reached in 2015, had frozen Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief and had been verified as effective by international inspectors. Trump called it "the worst deal ever" and withdrew, reimposing comprehensive sanctions. European allies attempted to maintain the deal without the US. Iran began exceeding JCPOA limits on uranium enrichment within a year. By the end of Term One, Iran's nuclear program had advanced significantly beyond its JCPOA-constrained state. Biden attempted to rejoin through indirect negotiations. Term Two has reimposed maximum pressure.
Jerusalem Recognized as Israel's Capital; US Embassy Moved | December 2017 / May 2018
Reversed decades of US policy by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv.
Enacted
Recognized December 6, 2017. The Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 had required the embassy move but every prior president had waived it citing national security. Trump did not waive it. The embassy opened in Tel Aviv's eastern suburb of Tel Aviv on May 14, 2018. The UN General Assembly voted 128-9 condemning the decision. Palestinian Authority suspended contacts with the US administration. 60 Palestinians were killed and thousands injured in protests on the day the embassy opened. The Abraham Accords — normalization agreements with UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco — were credited as significant T1 diplomatic achievements in 2020.
WHO Withdrawal | April 2020
Announced withdrawal from the World Health Organization during the COVID-19 pandemic, effective November 2020.
Enacted Term One; Biden Rejoined; Term Two Withdrew Again
Announced April 14, 2020 amid disputes over WHO's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and its relationship with China. The WHO constitution requires one year's notice before withdrawal can take effect. Withdrawal became effective November 4, 2020 — again, the day after Election Day. Biden rejoined on his first day in office. Trump withdrew again on day one of Term Two. The legal question in Term Two: can the president unilaterally withdraw from a WHO treaty that Congress has funded through appropriations? Multiple lawsuits were filed challenging the authority to do so without congressional action.
Withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty | May 2020
Withdrew the United States from the 1992 Open Skies Treaty allowing unarmed surveillance flights over signatory nations' territories.
Enacted
Announced May 21, 2020, citing Russian violations of the treaty. The Open Skies Treaty allowed unarmed aerial surveillance flights over the territory of the 34 signatory nations to build mutual confidence and verify arms control commitments. Allies including the UK, France, and Germany urged the US to remain in the treaty. Russia withdrew in response in 2021. Biden attempted to rejoin but Congress blocked it citing Russian violations. The withdrawal was part of a broader pattern of exiting multilateral arms control and treaty arrangements.
Withdrawal from the INF Treaty | August 2019
Formally withdrew the United States from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia.
Enacted
The US formally withdrew from the INF Treaty on August 2, 2019, citing years of Russian violations through development and deployment of the SSC-8 cruise missile. The INF Treaty, signed by Reagan and Gorbachev in 1987, had eliminated an entire class of nuclear weapons. NATO allies were notified and expressed concern. Russia also suspended its obligations. The withdrawal freed both nations to develop previously prohibited intermediate-range missiles. Allies feared the consequences for European security.
Assassination of Qasem Soleimani | January 2020
Authorized a drone strike killing Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, head of the IRGC's Quds Force, at Baghdad airport.
Enacted
Authorized January 3, 2020. Soleimani, the commander of Iran's Quds Force and a designated terrorist, was killed by a US drone strike at Baghdad International Airport. The strike also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an Iraqi militia leader. Iran retaliated with ballistic missile strikes on US bases in Iraq; over 100 US service members suffered traumatic brain injuries. The strike raised significant War Powers Act questions — Congress was not consulted in advance and the administration's justification evolved over time. The House passed a War Powers Resolution against further military action against Iran | which the Senate failed to override. Iraq demanded US forces leave the country.
Abraham Accords — UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, Morocco | September–December 2020
Brokered normalization agreements between Israel and four Arab states, the first such agreements since the 1994 Jordan peace treaty.
Enacted
The Abraham Accords were brokered by Jared Kushner and signed in September and October 2020. The UAE and Bahrain signed first, in exchange for the US suspending F-35 transfers to UAE | later reversed and the US not objecting to Israeli annexation of the West Bank for the time being. Sudan normalized in exchange for removal from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list and debt relief. Morocco normalized in exchange for US recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. Palestinian leadership denounced the deals as a betrayal. Critics noted they bypassed rather than resolved the Palestinian question.
Judiciary & Rule of Law
Three Supreme Court Appointments | Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett
Shifted the court from a 4-4-1 ideological balance to a 6-3 conservative supermajority.
Enacted
Neil Gorsuch was confirmed April 7, 2017 to fill the Scalia seat — held vacant by McConnell for 293 days to block Obama's nominee Merrick Garland. To confirm Gorsuch after Democratic filibuster, McConnell eliminated the 60-vote threshold for Supreme Court nominees | the "nuclear option". Brett Kavanaugh replaced Justice Kennedy in October 2018 after contentious hearings featuring credible sexual assault allegations from Christine Blasey Ford, who testified before the Senate. Amy Coney Barrett replaced Justice Ginsburg eight days before the 2020 election — confirmed under the opposite precedent McConnell had applied in 2016. The resulting 6-3 court has issued consequential rulings on abortion | Dobbs, administrative power | West Virginia v. EPA, Loper Bright, presidential immunity | Trump v. US, voting rights, and affirmative action.
226 Federal Judges Confirmed | 2017–2021
Confirmed a record number of federal judges, reshaping the federal judiciary at all levels with conservative and Federalist Society-vetted nominees.
Enacted
Over four years, the Trump administration confirmed 226 federal judges: 3 Supreme Court justices, 54 circuit court judges, and 174 district court judges. This was possible in part because McConnell's Senate had refused to confirm many of Obama's judicial nominees in his final two years, leaving a large number of vacancies. The Federalist Society effectively served as the vetting organization for nominees. The conservative judicial appointments have shaped rulings on everything from abortion and voting rights to administrative law and civil rights enforcement for a generation.
Two Impeachments
Impeached in December 2019 for abuse of power related to Ukraine, and in January 2021 for incitement of insurrection following the Capitol attack.
Acquitted Both Times
First impeachment | December 19, 2019: The House impeached Trump on two articles — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — related to the withholding of $391 million in congressionally approved military aid to Ukraine in exchange for a public announcement of a Biden investigation. Senate acquitted 52-48 on abuse of power, with Mitt Romney as the sole Republican to vote to convict. Second impeachment | January 13, 2021: 10 House Republicans joined all Democrats to impeach for incitement of insurrection. 57 senators voted to convict — more than in any prior presidential impeachment, and the only time a Senate majority voted to convict — but fell short of the 67 required. First president impeached twice.
Taxation
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act | December 2017
The largest overhaul of the US tax code since 1986. Cut the corporate rate from 35% to 21% permanently; individual cuts temporary through 2025.
Enacted
Signed December 22, 2017. The TCJA reduced the corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21% permanently, while individual income tax cuts were structured to expire in 2025 under Senate reconciliation rules. The CBO estimated the law would add approximately $1.5 trillion to the federal deficit over ten years. The law also eliminated the ACA individual mandate penalty, effectively gutting the ACA's coverage enforcement mechanism. The pass-through deduction | Section 199A allowed owners of pass-through entities — including LLCs and S-corps — to deduct up to 20% of qualified business income, a provision that disproportionately benefited real estate investment structures like those used by the Trump Organization. The SALT deduction cap of $10,000 was controversial in high-tax states.
Civil Rights & Social Policy
Transgender Military Ban | July 2017 / March 2019
Banned transgender individuals from serving in the military; reversed Obama-era policy opening all combat positions regardless of gender identity.
Upheld by SCOTUS; Biden Reversed; Term Two Reinstated
Announced via Twitter on July 26, 2017 — the first major policy announced through social media. Multiple courts blocked the initial policy. A revised policy issued March 2019 was upheld by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 vote in Trump v. Karnoski | 2019, staying lower court injunctions while litigation continued. Biden reversed the policy on his first day in office, allowing transgender individuals to serve openly. Term Two reinstated the ban on day one. The policy affects an estimated 14,700 active duty and reserve transgender service members.
Religious Liberty Executive Order | EO 13798, May 2017
Directed agencies to protect and promote religious liberty and limited enforcement of the Johnson Amendment prohibiting political activity by tax-exempt organizations.
Enacted
Signed May 4, 2017 at the National Day of Prayer event. Directed agencies to protect religious organizations' ability to engage in political speech without losing tax-exempt status — effectively limiting enforcement of the Johnson Amendment, which prohibits political activities by nonprofits. Also directed agencies to consider accommodations for those with religious objections to healthcare requirements including contraception coverage. Critics argued it allowed religious organizations to serve as political vehicles and created a hierarchy of rights in which religious liberty trumped anti-discrimination protections.
Withdrawal of Transgender Bathroom Guidance | February 2017
Rescinded Obama-era guidance directing schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms matching their gender identity.
Enacted
On February 22, 2017, the Departments of Education and Justice jointly rescinded the Obama administration's "Dear Colleague" letter directing schools to allow transgender students to use facilities consistent with their gender identity. The rescission left the question to states and school districts. Courts were divided on whether Title IX and Title VII required such accommodations. The Supreme Court held in Bostock v. Clayton County | 2020 that Title VII's prohibition on sex discrimination extends to gender identity and sexual orientation in employment — a ruling with implications for how Title IX is interpreted in education.
COVID-19 Response
Operation Warp Speed | May 2020
A public-private partnership that funded the development of COVID-19 vaccines at unprecedented speed, resulting in authorized vaccines within nine months.
Enacted
Announced May 15, 2020. Operation Warp Speed provided approximately $18 billion in federal funding to accelerate the development, manufacture, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, therapies, and diagnostics. Vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna were authorized under Emergency Use Authorization in December 2020 — nine months from announcement, compared to the previous record of four years. Johnson & Johnson received authorization in February 2021. The speed was achieved partly through parallel development and manufacturing, running processes simultaneously rather than sequentially. The program is widely credited as the most significant achievement of the Trump administration's COVID response.
COVID-19 Title 42 Border Policy | March 2020
Invoked public health authority to turn back virtually all migrants at the border without processing asylum claims, citing COVID-19 prevention.
Enacted; Extended by Biden; Ended 2023
On March 20, 2020, the CDC issued an order under Title 42 of the Public Health Service Act allowing border officials to turn back migrants without processing their asylum claims, citing COVID-19 prevention. The order was widely criticized by public health experts as a misuse of public health authority for immigration enforcement purposes — the CDC's own scientists objected internally. Millions of encounters were processed under Title 42 through Trump and Biden administrations. Biden attempted to end it but was blocked by courts. Title 42 finally expired in May 2023. A significant share of asylum seekers turned back under Title 42 faced violence and persecution in Mexico.
Immigration & Citizenship
Birthright Citizenship Executive Order | EO 14160, January 20, 2025
Attempted to end birthright citizenship for children born to undocumented or temporary immigrants, directly challenging the 14th Amendment.
Blocked by Multiple Courts
Signed January 20, 2025. The order instructed federal agencies to stop issuing citizenship documents to children born in the US if neither parent is a citizen or lawful permanent resident. Four federal judges — including Reagan appointee John Coughenour, who called it "blatantly unconstitutional" — blocked the order within days of signing. The 14th Amendment, ratified 1868, states: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens." United States v. Wong Kim Ark | 1898 definitively held this applies to children of immigrants. The administration appealed to SCOTUS, also arguing that single district judges should not be able to issue nationwide injunctions.
Securing the Border | EO 14165, January 20, 2025
Directed comprehensive border security measures including increased physical barriers, additional personnel, expanded detention, and reinstated Migrant Protection Protocols.
Enacted
Signed January 20, 2025. Directed the resumption of border wall construction, redeployment of CBP and military personnel to the border, reinstatement of Remain in Mexico | MPP, restriction of categorical parole, prioritization of immigration prosecutions, and expansion of detention facilities. Invoked the National Emergencies Act and 10 U.S.C. § 284 to enable military construction and support activities. Combined with EO 14159 declaring an invasion, these orders effectively sought to end asylum at the southern border.
Protecting the American People Against Invasion | EO 14159, January 20, 2025
Declared migration at the southern border a constitutional "invasion" and directed aggressive enforcement including expansion of expedited removal.
Enacted
Signed January 20, 2025. Directed all unregistered aliens to comply with registration requirements under 8 U.S.C. § 1302. Expanded expedited removal to apply potentially to any person present in the US for less than two years without valid entry documents — a massive expansion beyond the historical use of expedited removal within 100 miles of the border. Directed state and local officials to perform immigration enforcement functions. The invasion declaration has been used to justify numerous other actions including the Alien Enemies Act invocation.
"Invasion" Declaration / Alien Enemies Act Invocation | March 2025
Invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act — a wartime statute — to enable mass deportations of Venezuelan migrants without immigration hearings.
Partially Blocked by SCOTUS
The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 has been invoked three times: during the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II — each time against nationals of a country at war with the US. In March 2025, the administration invoked it against Venezuelan nationals alleged to be members of Tren de Aragua, a criminal gang, despite Venezuela not being at war with the US. The Supreme Court issued emergency injunctions halting deportation flights and requiring advance notice before deportations. Several courts found migration does not constitute an "invasion" under the constitutional invasion clause. The administration argued courts had no jurisdiction to review the invocation; courts broadly rejected this.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia Deportation and Defiance of Court Order | March 2025
Wrongly deported a Salvadoran man protected by a standing withholding order; subsequently defied a unanimous Supreme Court order to facilitate his return.
Court Order Defied
Kilmar Abrego Garcia had a standing US court order protecting him from deportation to El Salvador, where he faced documented gang persecution. The administration deported him anyway in March 2025, sending him to CECOT, El Salvador's maximum-security prison where human rights organizations have documented severe abuses. A federal district court ordered his return. The Supreme Court, in an unsigned unanimous order, directed the administration to "facilitate" his return. The administration's response was that it could not compel a foreign government to comply — courts broadly rejected this framing as evasion. The case represents the most direct test of executive branch defiance of judicial orders in either term.
Ending Humanitarian Parole Programs | January 2025
Terminated group humanitarian parole programs including CHNV | Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, Venezuelan and United for Ukraine, affecting approximately 500,000 people.
Enacted
DHS ended group humanitarian parole on January 21, 2025. This left approximately 500,000 CHNV beneficiaries — people who had entered legally under the Biden administration's parole program — potentially subject to deportation despite having obeyed all conditions of their parole. It also ended the United for Ukraine program, which had allowed over 150,000 Ukrainians to enter the US. Courts were asked to intervene to protect those who had already entered legally and built lives in the US under valid parole grants.
Executive Power / Administrative State
DOGE — Department of Government Efficiency | EO 14158, January 20, 2025
Established a non-governmental advisory entity led by Elon Musk with access to Treasury, Medicare, Social Security, and federal personnel data systems.
Ongoing Litigation
Signed January 20, 2025. Established DOGE within the Executive Office of the President and directed agency heads to cooperate with it. Sued within minutes of inauguration for violating the Federal Advisory Committee Act | FACA, which requires advisory bodies to be transparent, balanced, and to hold open meetings. Key unresolved questions: Is DOGE a federal agency subject to FOIA? Does Musk's dual role as government advisor and federal contractor | SpaceX, Starlink, Tesla violate conflict-of-interest laws? Was the access DOGE received to sensitive federal data systems legally authorized? Musk donated over $277 million to Trump's 2024 campaign. He departed DOGE in spring 2025.
Federal Funding Freeze | OMB Memo, January 27, 2025
An OMB directive ordered a pause on virtually all federal grants, loans, and assistance programs pending an ideological review.
Withdrawn After Court Block
Issued January 27 and effective the next day, the OMB memo created immediate chaos across state governments, nonprofits, hospitals, and universities that depend on federal funding for operations. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order within days. The administration withdrew the memo but continued implementing freezes piecemeal. The constitutional question: the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 explicitly prohibits presidential impoundment of appropriated funds. OMB Director Russ Vought has argued since Term One that the ICA is unconstitutional as an infringement on Article II authority — no court has accepted this argument.
Schedule F Reinstatement | EO 14171, January 20, 2025
Reinstated the Term One order reclassifying policy-related federal workers as at-will employees; combined with mass RIF notices and DOGE-driven workforce reductions.
In Force; Litigation Ongoing
Signed January 20, 2025 as part of the first wave of Term Two executive orders. Combined with DOGE-directed mass layoffs and reduction-in-force notices, an estimated 200,000+ federal workers have been affected through termination, resignation under pressure, or reclassification. Several courts have paused aspects of the mass firings. The constitutional question is the same as in Term One: does Congress's Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 constrain presidential removal authority, or does Article II inherent power override it?
Independent Agency Firings | FTC, NLRB, MSPB
Fired commissioners and board members of independent regulatory agencies with statutory for-cause removal protections.
Partially Blocked; SCOTUS Reconsidering
The administration fired FTC commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter, NLRB members, and Merit Systems Protection Board members — all with statutory removal protections. Courts initially reinstated officials under Humphrey's Executor v. US | 1935. The Supreme Court has signaled willingness to overrule or limit Humphrey's Executor. If it does, it would eliminate the legal independence of the FTC, FCC, FDIC, SEC, Federal Reserve Board, NLRB, FEC, and every other independent multi-member commission — placing them all under direct presidential control. The most consequential structural change to the administrative state possible.
USAID Dismantlement | January–February 2025
DOGE effectively shut down USAID within weeks, firing nearly all staff and canceling thousands of active foreign assistance contracts.
Largely Completed; Litigation Pending
USAID was established by Congress in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. Only Congress can eliminate a congressionally created agency through legislation. Despite this, DOGE operatives entered USAID headquarters January 26, 2025, and began placing staff on administrative leave and canceling contracts. Approximately 10,000 USAID employees and 50,000 local staff in recipient countries were terminated. Ongoing programs including PEPFAR | HIV/AIDS, child nutrition programs, disaster relief, and democracy promotion were halted mid-delivery. Courts found aspects unlawful but much damage was done before orders were issued. Congress has not passed legislation abolishing USAID.
Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government | EO 14147, January 20, 2025
Directed DOJ and FBI to review all investigations and prosecutions of the administration's political allies and opponents.
Enacted
Signed January 20, 2025. Directed the AG and FBI Director to review cases involving individuals targeted for political reasons. In practice, this order served as the legal basis for DOJ's review and dismissal of multiple cases involving Trump allies, and for the investigation of perceived political enemies. AG Pam Bondi directed DOJ to pursue investigations of Biden administration officials, reopened cases against Hillary Clinton, and purged career prosecutors. Critics argued the order was designed to use DOJ as a tool of political retribution — precisely the "weaponization" it claimed to address.
Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies | EO 14215, February 18, 2025
Directed all executive agencies — including independent regulatory agencies — to submit their regulatory agendas and significant regulatory actions to the White House for review and approval.
Enacted
Signed February 18, 2025. This order was significant because it applied White House OIRA review — which has always covered executive agencies — to independent agencies like the FTC, FCC, SEC, and Federal Reserve, which had historically operated outside direct White House oversight. The order directed the AG to provide legal guidance consistent with the president's supervisory authority over independent agencies. Legal scholars debated whether this effectively neutered the independence of these agencies before SCOTUS had even ruled on the removal question.
Deregulation / Administrative
Initial Rescissions of Biden Executive Orders | EO 14148, January 20, 2025
Revoked approximately 80 Biden executive orders, memoranda, and related actions — the largest single-day rescission in modern history.
Enacted
Signed January 20, 2025. Revoked Biden-era orders on immigration enforcement, climate regulations, diversity initiatives, federal contracting preferences, and a broad range of other policies. Revoked orders included EO 13993 limiting civil immigration enforcement, EO 14008 embedding climate considerations across agencies, EO 13985 establishing equity-focused federal programs, and EO 14035 promoting DEI in the federal workforce, among many others. This was the most sweeping single-day executive action in modern history in terms of policy reversal scope.
Unleashing American Energy | EO 14154, January 20, 2025
Declared a national energy emergency and directed agencies to maximize domestic fossil fuel production, reversed Biden-era clean energy policies, and reopened areas closed to drilling.
Enacted
Signed January 20, 2025. Declared a "national energy emergency," reversed the pause on LNG export permits, reopened ANWR and other federal lands to oil and gas development, directed EPA and other agencies to review clean energy regulations, and sought to end wind energy development on federal lands and in offshore areas. Withdrew from the Paris Agreement. Directed agencies to prioritize "energy dominance" over climate considerations. Reversed Biden's pause on new oil and gas leases on federal lands. Critics noted the US was already at record oil and gas production when the order was signed.
Regulatory Relief — Ten-for-One Deregulation | EO 14192, January 31, 2025
Required federal agencies to eliminate ten existing regulations for every new regulation issued, dramatically expanding the Term One two-for-one requirement.
Enacted
Signed January 31, 2025. Extended the Term One two-for-one deregulation order to a ten-for-one requirement. Directed agencies to reduce total regulatory costs by $0.10 for each $1.00 in new regulatory costs. Required agencies to submit deregulatory plans to OIRA. The order accelerated the rollback of regulations across environmental protection, financial oversight, workplace safety, consumer protection, and healthcare. Critics noted many "regulations" being counted as eliminated were actually guidance documents or minor technical updates, not substantive protections.
Tariffs & Trade
Reciprocal Tariffs / "Liberation Day" | EO 14257, April 2, 2025
The most sweeping use of emergency trade powers in American history — tariffs on imports from approximately 180 countries under IEEPA emergency authority.
Partially Paused; Active Litigation
Signed April 2, 2025 as "Liberation Day." Imposed sweeping tariffs on imports from essentially every country using IEEPA emergency authority — never before used for broad tariffs. A baseline 10% tariff was applied globally with higher "reciprocal" rates for specific countries. China tariffs escalated to 145% as both sides imposed retaliatory measures. The S&P 500 fell more than 10% in the days following the announcement. Most tariffs were paused for 90 days after market reaction. The Court of International Trade raised serious non-delegation concerns with using IEEPA to impose tariffs of this scale. The major questions doctrine may require explicit congressional authorization.
Canada and Mexico Tariffs | February 2025
Imposed 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, citing drug trafficking and migration as national emergencies under IEEPA.
Partially in Force; Partially Paused
Signed February 1, 2025, effective March 4. Imposed 25% tariffs on all Canadian and Mexican imports | 10% on Canadian energy using IEEPA emergency powers, citing fentanyl trafficking and irregular migration. Both countries retaliated with countermeasures. The tariffs threatened to destabilize the USMCA, which the administration had negotiated in Term One. They were partially paused for goods compliant with USMCA. Canada and Mexico both challenged the tariffs as inconsistent with USMCA obligations.
First Amendment / Institutions
Law Firm Executive Orders / Retaliation Campaign | February–April 2025
A series of executive orders targeted law firms that had represented opponents of the president, threatening their federal contracts, security clearances, and building access.
Multiple EOs Blocked
Beginning in February 2025, the administration issued executive orders targeting Perkins Coie, Paul Weiss, Covington & Burling, and other firms that had represented clients adverse to Trump or were connected to perceived enemies. The orders threatened to revoke security clearances, terminate federal contracts, and bar employees from federal buildings. Several major firms capitulated — offering millions in pro bono commitments in exchange for rescission. Federal courts blocked the orders under the unconstitutional conditions doctrine: the government cannot withhold benefits to punish constitutionally protected legal representation. The chilling effect on the legal profession was severe regardless of the legal outcome.
University Funding Threats and DEI Targeting | 2025
DOE and DOJ froze or threatened billions in federal funding to Harvard, Columbia, and other universities over DEI programs and campus protest responses.
Ongoing; Harvard Filed Suit
The administration used threatened funding cuts and investigations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to pressure universities to eliminate DEI programs, change protest response policies, and cooperate with federal investigations into campus antisemitism. Harvard filed suit after the administration froze over $2 billion in federal grants and contracts. Courts were examining whether the conditions were properly imposed through regulation or were ad hoc coercion. First Amendment issues included academic freedom and compelled speech — the administration was effectively requiring universities to adopt certain ideological positions as a condition of federal funding.
Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media | EO, May 1, 2025
Directed agencies to end federal funding to NPR and PBS, citing perceived ideological bias.
Enacted; Litigation Pending
Signed May 1, 2025. Directed the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to cease funding to NPR and PBS. The CPB is an independent entity established by Congress; the president has limited authority to direct its funding decisions. The order raised First Amendment questions about using government funding as a lever to influence editorial content and the independence of public media. NPR and PBS challenged the order. Congressional Republicans sought to formally defund CPB through the legislative process. Critics noted the order targeted media organizations that had reported critically on the administration.
DEI & Civil Rights
Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity | EO 14173, January 20, 2025
Eliminated DEI programs across the federal government and directed agencies to pressure private sector, universities, and contractors to do the same.
Partially Blocked
Signed January 20, 2025. Directed all federal agencies to terminate DEI offices and programs, revoked LBJ's 1965 affirmative action executive order | EO 11246, and directed agencies to identify and take action against DEI practices at federal contractors and grant recipients. Courts blocked provisions conditioning unrelated federal contracts on DEI elimination, finding they exceeded authority. EEOC and DOJ guidance extending to private sector employment raised questions about federal authority to regulate private employment through non-legislative means. The EEOC and DOJ published joint guidance on "DEI-related employment practices" that agencies would deem discriminatory under Title VII.
Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government | EO 14168, January 20, 2025
Directed federal agencies to recognize only two biological sexes and required use of "sex" rather than "gender identity" in all federal documents and programs.
Litigation Ongoing
Signed January 20, 2025. Directed all federal agencies, documents, and programs to recognize only two sexes — male and female — based on biological definition. Directed State Dept to issue passports only with M or F designations. Directed HHS to update vital statistics guidance. Directed prisons to house all inmates according to biological sex. Courts split on aspects of this order. Bostock v. Clayton County | 2020 SCOTUS held sex discrimination under Title VII extends to gender identity — whether and how this extends beyond employment to other federal programs is actively contested.
Pardons & Rule of Law
January 6 Pardons | 1,500+ Individuals, January 20, 2025
Full, unconditional pardons for all January 6 defendants including those convicted of violent offenses against police officers.
Enacted
Signed in the first hours of Term Two on January 20, 2025. The pardons covered over 1,500 individuals charged or convicted in connection with the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. Included those convicted of assaulting police officers with flagpoles, chemical sprays, and tasers. The pardon power under Article II is broadly unreviewable by courts. Police officers injured on January 6 received no compensation. Prosecutors who had spent years building cases had their work erased. Legal scholars debated whether pardons issued to protect insurrectionists who attacked the government could constitute obstruction of justice — a constitutional, not merely statutory, question.
National Security & Foreign Policy
WHO Withdrawal | EO 14155, January 20, 2025
Withdrew the United States from the World Health Organization for the second time, cutting US contributions to global health initiatives.
Enacted; Litigation Pending
Signed January 20, 2025, the same day Biden had rejoined WHO four years earlier. The WHO constitution requires one year's notice before withdrawal is effective. Legal question: can the president unilaterally withdraw from a WHO treaty that Congress has funded through appropriations without congressional approval? Multiple organizations filed suit arguing the withdrawal requires congressional action. The US contributes approximately $500 million annually to WHO — its largest single donor. The withdrawal had immediate effects on WHO programs in pandemic preparedness, disease surveillance, and vaccine distribution.
Withdrawing from UN Organizations | EO, February 4, 2025
Directed review and potential withdrawal from UN organizations including UNESCO and the UN Human Rights Council.
Enacted
Signed February 4, 2025. Directed a review of US membership and funding for all UN organizations, singling out bodies seen as anti-Israel or insufficiently aligned with US interests. The US had previously withdrawn from UNESCO under Trump in Term One and from the UN Human Rights Council. The order represented part of a broader retrenchment from multilateral institutions. It directed the OMB to withhold assessed contributions to organizations pending review.
Sanctioning the International Criminal Court | EO, February 6, 2025
Imposed asset freezes and visa restrictions on ICC officials involved in investigations of US personnel or allies.
Enacted
Signed February 6, 2025. Authorized sanctions including asset freezes and visa bans against ICC officials who investigated or prosecuted US military personnel or allied nations' officials — specifically those involved in ICC investigations of Israeli officials. The ICC had issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Gallant in November 2024 for alleged war crimes in Gaza. The sanctions targeted Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan. European allies criticized the sanctions as an attack on international law and the rule-based international order.
Social Policy
Transgender Military Ban Reinstatement | EO 14183, January 27, 2025
Reinstated the Term One ban on transgender individuals serving in the military, reversing Biden's policy allowing open service.
Litigation Ongoing
Signed January 27, 2025. Directed the Secretary of Defense to end open transgender service and return to a policy requiring military service to be performed consistent with biological sex. An estimated 14,700 active duty and reserve transgender service members were affected. Courts issued temporary blocks in some circuits; others allowed implementation. The policy interacts with the broader EO recognizing only two biological sexes and restricting gender-affirming care.
Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias | EO, February 6, 2025
Directed DOJ to investigate and address perceived discrimination against Christians in federal programs and institutions.
Enacted
Signed February 6, 2025. Directed the Attorney General to prioritize investigation of alleged discrimination against Christians, review federal policies for anti-Christian bias, and report on findings within 180 days. Combined with the White House Faith Office | EO signed February 7, 2025 directing agencies to promote religious liberty, the orders represented an explicit alignment between the federal government and Christian nationalist policy goals. Critics noted the administration showed no similar interest in documenting discrimination against other religious groups.
Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports | EO 14201, February 5, 2025
Directed the Department of Education to prevent transgender girls and women from participating in female athletic competitions or using female-only facilities in federally funded schools.
Enacted; Litigation Ongoing
Signed February 5, 2025. Directed DOE to enforce Title IX using the biological sex definitions established in EO 14168, prohibiting transgender girls and women from participating in female sports categories and using female-only restrooms and locker rooms in federally funded schools and universities. The order threatened to cut federal funding from institutions that allow transgender participation. Courts split on whether the order exceeded DOE's authority or violated equal protection. The administration's definition of sex under Title IX conflicted with the Biden administration's interpretation and with the Bostock ruling's extension of sex discrimination protections.
Term One Executive Order Reference — All 220 EOs | EO 13765–EO 13984, January 2017–January 2021. Organized by policy category. EO number, title, date, and status for every order. Click any row to expand for detail on consequential orders.
EO #TitleDateStatusCategory
13765Minimizing the Economic Burden of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Pending RepealJan 20, 2017EnactedHealthcare / ACA
13766Expediting Environmental Reviews and Approvals for High Priority Infrastructure ProjectsJan 24, 2017EnactedInfrastructure / environment
13767Border Security and Immigration Enforcement ImprovementsJan 25, 2017EnactedImmigration / border wall
13768Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United StatesJan 25, 2017BlockedSanctuary cities defunding
13769Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United StatesJan 27, 2017BlockedTravel ban v.1
13770Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch AppointeesJan 28, 2017EnactedEthics / lobbying ban
13771Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory CostsJan 30, 2017EnactedTwo-for-one deregulation
13772Core Principles for Regulating the United States Financial SystemFeb 3, 2017EnactedFinancial deregulation / Dodd-Frank review
13773Enforcing Federal Law with Respect to Transnational Criminal Organizations and Preventing International TraffickingFeb 9, 2017EnactedCriminal organizations / cartels
13774Preventing Violence Against Federal, State, Tribal, and Local Law Enforcement OfficersFeb 9, 2017EnactedLaw enforcement protection
13775Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of JusticeFeb 9, 2017Revoked by EO 13787DOJ succession
13776Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public SafetyFeb 9, 2017EnactedCrime / public safety task force
13777Enforcing the Regulatory Reform AgendaFeb 24, 2017EnactedRegulatory reform task forces in agencies
13778Restoring the Rule of Law, Federalism, and Economic Growth by Reviewing the "Waters of the United States" RuleFeb 28, 2017EnactedWOTUS / clean water rule rollback
13783Promoting Energy Independence and Economic GrowthMar 28, 2017EnactedClean Power Plan review; fossil fuels
13785Establishing Enhanced Collection and Enforcement of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty OrdersMar 31, 2017EnactedTrade / anti-dumping enforcement
13786Omnibus Report on Significant Trade DeficitsMar 31, 2017EnactedTrade deficit review — precursor to tariff actions
13787Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of JusticeMar 31, 2017EnactedDOJ succession | revised
13788Buy American and Hire AmericanApr 18, 2017EnactedH-1B visa review; federal procurement
13789Identifying and Reducing Tax Regulatory BurdensApr 21, 2017EnactedTax regulation review
13790Promoting Agriculture and Rural Prosperity in AmericaApr 25, 2017EnactedAgriculture / rural prosperity task force
13791Enforcing Statutory Prohibitions on Federal Control of EducationApr 26, 2017EnactedEducation / federal overreach limitation
13792Review of Designations Under the Antiquities ActApr 26, 2017PartialNational monuments review — Bears Ears, Grand Staircase
13793Revocation of Federal Contracting Executive OrdersMar 27, 2017EnactedReversed Obama labor-friendly contracting rules
13795Implementing an America-First Offshore Energy StrategyApr 28, 2017EnactedOffshore oil/gas leasing expansion
13796Addressing Trade Agreement Violations and AbusesApr 29, 2017EnactedTrade violations review
13797Establishment of Office of Trade and Manufacturing PolicyApr 29, 2017EnactedCreated White House trade policy office
13798Promoting Free Speech and Religious LibertyMay 4, 2017EnactedJohnson Amendment enforcement; religious liberty
13799Establishment of Presidential Advisory Commission on Election IntegrityMay 11, 2017Disbanded Jan 2018Voter fraud commission — disbanded after stonewalling by states
13800Strengthening the Cybersecurity of Federal Networks and Critical InfrastructureMay 11, 2017EnactedFederal cybersecurity modernization
13807Establishing Discipline and Accountability in the Environmental Review and Permitting Process for Infrastructure ProjectsAug 15, 2017EnactedOne Federal Decision — speeding environmental review
13808Imposing Additional Sanctions With Respect to VenezuelaAug 24, 2017EnactedVenezuela financial sanctions
13809Restoring State, Tribal, and Local Law Enforcement's Access to Life-Saving Equipment and ResourcesAug 28, 2017EnactedRestored Pentagon surplus equipment transfers to police
13780Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States | RevisedMar 6, 2017BlockedTravel ban v.2 — also blocked by courts
13810Imposing Additional Sanctions With Respect to North KoreaSep 20, 2017EnactedNorth Korea financial sanctions
13818Blocking the Property of Persons Involved in Serious Human Rights Abuse or CorruptionDec 20, 2017EnactedGlobal Magnitsky sanctions authority
13821Streamlining and Expediting Requests to Locate Broadband Facilities in Rural AmericaJan 8, 2018EnactedRural broadband infrastructure
138252018 Amendments to the Manual for Courts-Martial, United StatesMar 1, 2018EnactedMilitary justice reform
13836Developing Efficient, Effective, and Cost-Reducing Approaches to Federal Sector Collective BargainingMay 25, 2018Partially BlockedFederal union bargaining restrictions
13837Ensuring Transparency, Accountability, and Efficiency in Taxpayer-Funded Union Time UseMay 25, 2018Partially BlockedFederal union official time restrictions
13839Promoting Accountability and Streamlining Removal Procedures Consistent with Merit System PrinciplesMay 25, 2018Partially BlockedFederal employee grievance restrictions
13842Amending Executive Order 13223Jul 3, 2018EnactedReserve forces activation authority
13843Excepting Administrative Law Judges from the Competitive ServiceJul 10, 2018EnactedALJ hiring — followed SCOTUS Lucia v. SEC ruling
13848Imposing Certain Sanctions in the Event of Foreign Interference in a United States ElectionSep 12, 2018EnactedElection interference sanctions authority
13850Blocking Property of Additional Persons Contributing to the Situation in VenezuelaNov 1, 2018EnactedVenezuela sanctions expansion
13851Imposing Sanctions With Respect to the Situation in NicaraguaNov 27, 2018EnactedNicaragua sanctions
13853Amending Executive Order 13581Dec 26, 2018EnactedTransnational criminal organizations sanctions update
13854Strengthening Retirement Security in AmericaAug 31, 2018EnactedRetirement security / multiple employer plans
13855Presidential Executive Order on Protecting American Inventions and InnovationDec 12, 2018EnactedChina IP protection / American innovation
13856Regarding United States Agency for International DevelopmentDec 11, 2018RevokedUSAID reform directive
13857Taking Additional Steps to Address the National Emergency With Respect to VenezuelaJan 25, 2019EnactedVenezuela — Guaidó recognition / PDVSA sanctions
13859Maintaining American Leadership in Artificial IntelligenceFeb 11, 2019EnactedAmerican AI Initiative — federal AI strategy
13860Supporting the Transition of Active Duty Service Members and Military Veterans into the Merchant MarineMar 4, 2019EnactedVeterans / merchant marine transition
13861National Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End SuicideMar 5, 2019EnactedVeterans suicide prevention initiative
13868Promoting Energy Infrastructure and Economic GrowthApr 10, 2019EnactedEnergy infrastructure / pipeline permitting
13873Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply ChainMay 15, 2019EnactedHuawei ban / telecom supply chain security
13876Imposing Sanctions With Respect to IranJun 24, 2019EnactedIran sanctions expansion post-JCPOA withdrawal
13884Blocking Property of the Government of VenezuelaAug 5, 2019EnactedBroad Venezuela government asset freeze
13885Establishing the National Quantum Initiative Advisory CommitteeAug 30, 2019EnactedQuantum computing advisory committee
13886Modernizing Sanctions to Combat TerrorismSep 9, 2019EnactedTerrorism sanctions modernization
13890Protecting and Improving Medicare for Our Nation's SeniorsOct 3, 2019EnactedMedicare reform initiative
13894Blocking Property and Suspending Entry of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in SyriaOct 14, 2019EnactedTurkey sanctions after Syrian withdrawal
13895Establishing the White House Council on Eliminating Regulatory Barriers to Affordable HousingOct 25, 2019EnactedHousing affordability — zoning reform push
13899Combating Anti-SemitismDec 11, 2019EnactedTitle VI antisemitism enforcement — Jewish nationhood question
13902Imposing Sanctions With Respect to Additional Sectors of IranJan 10, 2020EnactedIran sanctions — post-Soleimani strike
13912National Emergency Authority to Order the Selected Reserve and Certain Members of the Individual Ready Reserve of the Armed Forces to Active DutyMar 27, 2020EnactedCOVID — National Guard activation authority
13910Preventing Hoarding of Health and Medical Resources Necessary to Respond to the Spread of COVID-19Mar 23, 2020EnactedCOVID — PPE hoarding prohibition
13911Delegating Additional Authority Under the DPA to the Secretary of AgricultureMar 27, 2020EnactedCOVID — Defense Production Act / food supply
13917Delegating Authority Under the DPA with Respect to Food Supply Chain ResourcesApr 28, 2020EnactedCOVID — meatpacking / essential workers
13924Regulatory Relief to Support Economic RecoveryMay 19, 2020EnactedCOVID economic recovery deregulation
13925Preventing Online CensorshipMay 28, 2020Blocked / Revoked BidenSection 230 / social media censorship — limited legal effect
13929Safe Policing for Safe CommunitiesJun 16, 2020EnactedPolice reform — following George Floyd protests
13933Protecting American Monuments, Memorials, and Statues and Combating Recent Criminal ViolenceJun 26, 2020EnactedConfederate monument protection
13934Building and Rebuilding Monuments to American HeroesJul 3, 2020EnactedNational Garden of American Heroes
13935Combating Sex Discrimination in EducationJun 12, 2020EnactedTitle IX biological sex interpretation
13936The President's Executive Order on Hong Kong NormalizationJul 14, 2020EnactedHong Kong — revoked special trading status
13940Aligning Federal Contracting and Hiring Practices with the Interest of American WorkersAug 3, 2020EnactedH-1B visa restrictions / American worker preference
13943Addressing the Threat Posed by WeChatAug 6, 2020BlockedWeChat ban — blocked by courts; revoked Biden
13942Addressing the Threat Posed by TikTokAug 6, 2020BlockedTikTok ban — blocked by courts; revoked Biden; Term Two reversed
13945Fighting the Spread of COVID-19 by Providing Assistance to Renters and HomeownersAug 8, 2020EnactedCOVID eviction / foreclosure relief
13950Combating Race and Sex StereotypingSep 22, 2020Blocked / Revoked BidenAnti-CRT / DEI training ban in federal agencies
13957Creating Schedule F in the Excepted ServiceOct 21, 2020Enacted Term One; Revoked Biden; Reinstated Term TwoSchedule F — at-will federal employees
13958Establishing the President's Advisory 1776 CommissionNov 2, 2020Disbanded Biden Day 1Patriotic education / anti-1619 Project commission
13959Addressing the Threat From Securities Investments That Finance Communist Chinese Military CompaniesNov 12, 2020EnactedChinese military company investment ban
13960Promoting the Use of Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence in the Federal GovernmentDec 3, 2020EnactedFederal AI governance principles
13961Governance and Integration of Federal Mission ResilienceDec 7, 2020EnactedFederal resilience / continuity of operations
13971Addressing the Threat Posed by Applications and Other Software Developed or Controlled by Chinese CompaniesJan 5, 2021Blocked / Revoked BidenChinese app ban | Alipay, WeChat Pay, etc.
13984Taking Additional Steps to Address the National Emergency With Respect to Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled ActivitiesJan 19, 2021EnactedCloud services foreign adversary restrictions
Term Two Executive Order Reference — 243+ EOs as of April 2026 | EO 14147 onward, January 20, 2025–present. This is the most prolific first year of EOs in modern history — 225 in 2025 alone, surpassing Trump's entire first term.
EO #TitleDateStatusCategory
14147Ending the Weaponization of the Federal GovernmentJan 20, 2025EnactedDOJ/FBI review of politically motivated investigations
14148Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and ActionsJan 20, 2025EnactedRevoked ~80 Biden EOs — immigration, climate, DEI, contracting
14159Protecting the American People Against InvasionJan 20, 2025EnactedInvasion declaration; expedited removal expansion
14160Protecting the Meaning and Value of American CitizenshipJan 20, 2025BlockedBirthright citizenship elimination — 4 courts blocked
14161Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety ThreatsJan 20, 2025EnactedTravel ban v.3; 60-day review of vetting procedures
14154Unleashing American EnergyJan 20, 2025EnactedEnergy emergency; Paris withdrawal; LNG permits; ANWR
14168Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal GovernmentJan 20, 2025Partial / LitigationTwo-sex federal policy; passport/prison rules
14158Establishing and Implementing the President's Department of Government EfficiencyJan 20, 2025Ongoing LitigationDOGE — Elon Musk; FACA violations; data access
14171Restoring Accountability to Policy-Influencing Positions Within the Federal WorkforceJan 20, 2025In Force; LitigationSchedule F reinstatement
14173Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based OpportunityJan 20, 2025Partially BlockedDEI elimination — federal and contractor
14155Withdrawing the United States from the World Health OrganizationJan 20, 2025EnactedWHO withdrawal — 2nd time; 1-year notice required
14163Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions ProgramJan 20, 2025EnactedSuspended refugee admissions program
14165Securing Our BordersJan 20, 2025EnactedWall construction; MPP reinstatement; detention expansion
14169Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign AidJan 20, 2025EnactedUSAID 90-day review; foreign aid freeze
14170Reforming the Federal Hiring Process and Restoring Merit to Government ServiceJan 20, 2025EnactedSkills-based federal hiring; DEI-free hiring
14172Declassifying Information Regarding the Weaponization of the Federal Government Against Political OpponentsJan 20, 2025EnactedDeclassification of Trump surveillance / FBI investigation records
14174Clarifying the Military's Role in Protecting the Territorial Integrity of the United StatesJan 20, 2025EnactedMilitary at the border — expanded Posse Comitatus exception
14175Designating Cartels and Other Organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global TerroristsJan 20, 2025EnactedCartel / MS-13 / Tren de Aragua FTO designations
14176Expressing a National Policy of Granting Full Pardons for Certain Offenses Committed by January 6, 2021, Capitol ProtestorsJan 20, 2025EnactedJan. 6 pardons — 1,500+ individuals
14177Application of Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act to TikTokJan 20, 2025EnactedTikTok — reversed T1 ban; delayed divestiture requirement
14178Putting America First in International Environmental AgreementsJan 20, 2025EnactedParis Agreement withdrawal; climate accord review
14183Prioritizing Military Excellence and ReadinessJan 27, 2025Litigation OngoingTransgender military ban reinstatement
14201Keeping Men Out of Women's SportsFeb 5, 2025Litigation OngoingTransgender girls/women banned from female sports in federally funded schools
14193Imposing Duties to Address the Flow of Illicit Drugs Across Our Northern BorderFeb 1, 2025Partially in Force25% Canada tariffs — IEEPA / drug trafficking emergency
14194Imposing Duties to Address the Flow of Illicit Drugs Across Our Southern BorderFeb 1, 2025Partially in Force25% Mexico tariffs — IEEPA / fentanyl emergency
14195Imposing Duties to Address the Synthetic Opioid Supply Chain in the People's Republic of ChinaFeb 1, 2025Enacted10% China tariffs — IEEPA / fentanyl precursor emergency
14204Establishing the National Energy Dominance CouncilFeb 14, 2025EnactedEnergy dominance council — coordinates fossil fuel expansion
14205Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal CourtFeb 6, 2025EnactedICC sanctions — Netanyahu arrest warrant response
14215Ensuring Accountability for All AgenciesFeb 18, 2025EnactedWhite House control over independent agencies
14216Commencing the Reduction of the Federal BureaucracyFeb 19, 2025EnactedDirected elimination of "unnecessary" federal entities
14219Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President's "Department of Government Efficiency" Deregulatory InitiativeFeb 19, 2025EnactedDOGE deregulation — agencies identify rules to cut
14192Unleashing Prosperity Through DeregulationJan 31, 2025EnactedTen-for-one deregulation requirement
14257Regulating Imports with a Reciprocal Tariff to Rectify Trade Practices that Contribute to Large and Persistent Annual United States Goods Trade DeficitsApr 2, 2025Partially Paused"Liberation Day" — global reciprocal tariffs; IEEPA
14203Expanding Access to In Vitro FertilizationFeb 18, 2025EnactedIVF access expansion directive
14206Eradicating Anti-Christian BiasFeb 6, 2025EnactedDOJ investigation of anti-Christian discrimination
14211One Voice for America's Foreign RelationsFeb 12, 2025EnactedDirected State Dept to control all foreign policy communications
14220Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open BordersFeb 19, 2025EnactedEnded federal contracts with NGOs serving migrants
14222Implementing the President's "Department of Government Efficiency" Cost Efficiency InitiativeFeb 26, 2025EnactedDOGE cost-cutting — contracts, grants, loans, travel
14242Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and CommunitiesMar 20, 2025EnactedEducation deregulation; school choice; eliminate Dept of Ed direction
14247Modernizing Payments To and From America's Bank AccountMar 25, 2025EnactedEliminated paper checks for federal payments — all electronic by Sept 2025
14252Achieving Efficiency Through State and Local PreparednessMar 25, 2025EnactedFEMA reform — shifting disaster response to states
14261Protecting American Communities from Criminal AliensApr 28, 2025EnactedCriminal alien removal prioritization
14262Strengthening and Unleashing America's Law EnforcementApr 28, 2025EnactedExpanded law enforcement powers; qualified immunity support
14298Delivering Most-Favored-Nation Prescription Drug PricingMay 12, 2025Litigation OngoingDrug pricing — tie US prices to lowest international price
14291Establishment of the Religious Liberty CommissionMay 1, 2025EnactedWhite House religious liberty commission
14292Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased MediaMay 1, 2025Litigation PendingNPR/PBS defunding directive
The structural legal questions running across both terms — not just whether a policy was blocked, but what the underlying constitutional fight is actually about and what it means for how power works.
Separation of Powers
Impoundment / Spending Power
Can the president refuse to spend funds that Congress has appropriated and the law requires be spent?
Likely Unconstitutional
Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution gives Congress exclusive control over federal spending. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 was passed after President Nixon refused to spend congressionally appropriated funds for programs he opposed, explicitly prohibiting the practice. The current administration — led by OMB Director Russ Vought — holds that the ICA is itself unconstitutional as an infringement on Article II executive authority to administer federal programs. No federal court has accepted this argument. The Supreme Court in Clinton v. City of New York | 1998 struck down the Line Item Veto Act, which had actually granted the president statutory impoundment authority, finding it violated the constitutional framework. If the administration's position were accepted, it would effectively give the president a unilateral veto over any congressional spending it disagreed with.
Unilateral Agency Dismantlement
Can the president unilaterally dismantle or defund agencies created by Congress without legislation?
Courts Finding Violations
Congress creates agencies via statute. Only Congress can eliminate them through legislation. The president can direct priorities within an agency but cannot functionally eliminate a statutorily created agency through executive action alone. USAID | created by the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and others have been targeted. Courts have found aspects of USAID's wind-down unlawful. The practical problem: by the time courts issue rulings, the damage — mass terminations, canceled contracts, disrupted programs — may be irreversible even if the action was illegal.
Presidential Removal Power / Independent Agencies
Does the president have absolute power to fire officials at independent regulatory agencies, overriding statutory removal protections Congress has enacted?
SCOTUS Likely to Revisit Humphrey's Executor
Humphrey's Executor v. United States | 1935 held that Congress may constitutionally protect members of independent multi-member regulatory agencies from removal except for cause. The precedent has governed the structure of independent agencies for nearly 90 years. The Term Two administration's firings of FTC, NLRB, and MSPB members directly challenged it. If the Supreme Court overrules Humphrey's Executor, it would eliminate the legal independence of the FTC, FCC, FDIC, SEC, Federal Reserve Board, NLRB, FEC, and every other independent commission. The most significant structural change to the administrative state since the New Deal.
Emergency Powers / IEEPA Tariffs
Does the International Emergency Economic Powers Act grant the president unlimited tariff authority whenever a national emergency is declared?
Active Litigation
IEEPA | 1977 authorizes the president to regulate international financial transactions during national emergencies. It was enacted to govern targeted sanctions and has never previously been used to impose broad tariffs. The administration's position: trade deficits constitute a national emergency triggering unlimited tariff authority. The Court of International Trade found serious non-delegation concerns. The major questions doctrine | West Virginia v. EPA, 2022 requires explicit congressional authorization for executive actions of major economic significance. The non-delegation doctrine holds Congress cannot grant unlimited legislative power without an intelligible principle constraining its use.
Due Process & Individual Rights
Habeas Corpus and Deportation Without Due Process
Can the executive branch deport individuals without immigration hearings, or defy court orders to return deportees?
Courts Finding Violations
The Fifth Amendment's due process clause protects all "persons" — not just citizens — from deprivation of liberty without due process. This applies to anyone within US jurisdiction regardless of immigration status. Multiple Term Two deportations were executed so rapidly that courts couldn't intervene before individuals were removed. SCOTUS issued emergency stays. The Abrego Garcia case raised the sharpest confrontation: a unanimous SCOTUS order directing the administration to facilitate his return was met with deliberate evasion. Habeas corpus — the right to challenge unlawful detention — cannot be suspended except in cases of rebellion or invasion under Article I, Section 9. Whether the administration's invasion declaration could trigger that exception is contested.
14th Amendment Birthright Citizenship
Can a presidential executive order reinterpret a constitutional provision applied one way for 150+ years?
Blocked by Multiple Courts
No. United States v. Wong Kim Ark | 1898 definitively held that birthright citizenship applies to children of immigrants under the plain text of the 14th Amendment. An executive order cannot override constitutional text. The secondary question the administration pressed to SCOTUS: whether a single district judge can issue a nationwide injunction binding on the entire executive branch. The administration sought to limit injunctions to named plaintiffs only, which would allow enforcement against everyone else while litigation proceeded — a practical strategy to implement unconstitutional policies while courts sort out the law.
First Amendment
Retaliation Against Law Firms, Media, and Political Opponents
Can the government use federal contracts, security clearances, and agency access as tools to punish First Amendment-protected activity?
Multiple EOs Blocked
No — this is the unconstitutional conditions doctrine. The government cannot withhold a benefit | security clearances, federal contracts, building access to punish constitutionally protected activity | legal representation, speech, press. Courts have blocked law firm EOs on this basis. The practical chilling effect is severe regardless of legal outcome: firms and universities are capitulating to avoid retaliation even when courts would ultimately rule for them. This is the mechanism through which intimidation functions as policy even when specific actions are unconstitutional.
Presidential Immunity | Post-Term One New Doctrine
Trump v. United States | 2024
A new SCOTUS doctrine: absolute immunity for core presidential acts, presumptive immunity for all official acts, no immunity for purely private acts.
New Doctrine, 6-3
6-3 ruling written by Chief Justice Roberts; effectively ended the federal January 6 prosecution. The Court's framework distinguishes between "core" presidential powers | absolute immunity and other official acts | presumptive immunity, but provided no clear test for distinguishing between them. No prior president operated with any understanding that they possessed such immunity. Virtually any presidential action can be characterized as "official." The ruling also held that evidence of official acts cannot be introduced even to prove criminal intent for private acts — a significant evidentiary restriction. Justice Sotomayor dissented: "The President is now a king above the law." This doctrine is the foundational legal architecture for Term Two's most aggressive executive action claims.
Heritage Foundation
501(c)(3) think tank  ·  Founded 1973  ·  Washington, DC  ·  President: Kevin Roberts
The flagship conservative think tank. Has published Mandate for Leadership as a policy blueprint for Republican administrations since 1981 — Reagan's team reportedly implemented nearly two-thirds of its recommendations, and the same claim was made after Term One. Spent $22 million preparing Project 2025, including building a 20,000-person database of vetted conservatives ready to staff a second Trump administration. Heritage's operating doctrine: personnel is policy. Seventy percent of Trump's Term Two cabinet has ties to Heritage-aligned organizations. Heritage Action for America is its 501(c)(4) political arm, running campaigns and lobbying.
Policy blueprintPersonnel pipelineProject 2025 leadMandate for LeadershipKevin Roberts
Center for Renewing America
501(c)(4)  ·  Founded 2021  ·  Led by Russ Vought  ·  Washington, DC
Russ Vought's policy operation, founded immediately after Term One ended. Vought served as OMB Director in Term One and returned to the role in Term Two. CRA drafted the OMB chapter of Project 2025's Mandate for Leadership and provided administrative, staffing, and legal support for multiple P2025 organizations. CRA has been the primary vehicle for developing and promoting the impoundment doctrine and the theory that large swaths of the administrative state are unconstitutional. One journalist described Vought as "the real mastermind behind Trump's imperial presidency."
OMB policyImpoundment doctrineProject 2025Russ VoughtAdministrative state dismantlement
America First Policy Institute
501(c)(3)  ·  Founded 2021  ·  Led by Brooke Rollins | now Term Two Agriculture Secretary  ·  Washington, DC
Launched by former Trump administration officials as a parallel policy and personnel shop to Heritage. Donated more than $6.5 million to Project 2025-aligned organizations between 2020 and 2023, including over $4 million to Leonard Leo's Honest Elections Project. Stephen Miller was affiliated throughout. AFPI functioned as the administration-in-waiting during Biden years — housing policy development and personnel for Term Two. Runs America First Works, a 501(c)(4) political arm.
Trump transition vehiclePersonnel sourcingStephen Miller affiliatedBrooke Rollins
America First Legal
501(c)(3)  ·  Founded 2021  ·  Led by Stephen Miller  ·  Washington, DC
Stephen Miller's litigation operation. Uses civil rights statutes as weapons in reverse — filing EEOC complaints and civil suits against corporations, universities, hospitals, and federal agencies over DEI programs, affirmative action, and civil rights enforcement. Has filed hundreds of complaints. Functions simultaneously as a legal pressure mechanism and as a signal to institutions about compliance with the administration's anti-DEI agenda. Received administrative support from the Conservative Partnership Institute.
LitigationAnti-DEIStephen MillerProject 2025 advisoryReverse civil rights
Federalist Society
501(c)(3)  ·  Founded 1982  ·  Key figures: Leonard Leo | former co-chair, Eugene Meyer | president  ·  Washington, DC
The conservative and libertarian legal network that has shaped the federal judiciary for four decades. Leonard Leo curated the nominations of Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett as co-chair. He departed in 2020 to operate his own dark money network, funded by a $1.6 billion transfer from electronics magnate Barre Seid in 2021 — the largest known dark money transfer in American history. All Term Two federal judicial nominees continue to be drawn primarily from the Federalist Society pipeline. The society itself does not directly fundraise for political candidates but serves as the essential credentialing and networking infrastructure for the conservative legal movement.
Judicial pipelineSCOTUS nomineesLeonard LeoDark money networkConservative legal movement
Conservative Partnership Institute
501(c)(3/4)  ·  Led by Mark Meadows | T1 Chief of Staff  ·  Washington, DC
Mark Meadows' post-Term One organization. Provided administrative, staffing, and legal support for at least seven Project 2025 organizations — including America First Legal, Center for Renewing America, American Cornerstone Institute, American Moment, American Accountability Foundation, Election Integrity Network, and Personnel Policy Operations. Key connective tissue between Term One alumni and Term Two infrastructure. Also linked to the post-2020 election denial network. Jim DeMint, Heritage's former president, is involved. Received over $3 million from Dunn-linked networks for legal defense of former Trump officials.
Administrative hubP2025 infrastructureMark MeadowsElection denialJan. 6 adjacent
Claremont Institute
501(c)(3)  ·  Founded 1979  ·  Upland, CA  ·  Senior Fellows include John Eastman, Michael Anton
The intellectual infrastructure for America First constitutionalism. Published John Eastman's memo arguing Vice President Pence could refuse to certify the 2020 electoral vote count — the legal theory underlying the January 6 pressure campaign. Source of the theoretical framework that the administrative state is unconstitutional and that the president has inherent authority to dismantle it. Michael Anton | "The Flight 93 Election," 2016 is a senior fellow. The Claremont Review of Books is its flagship intellectual publication. Project 2025 advisory council member.
Intellectual infrastructureJan. 6 memosDeconstruction theoryJohn EastmanMichael Anton
Alliance Defending Freedom
501(c)(3)  ·  Founded 1994  ·  Scottsdale, AZ  ·  President: Michael Farris
Conservative Christian law firm specializing in religious liberty, anti-abortion, and anti-LGBTQ litigation. Has argued major cases before the Supreme Court including 303 Creative v. Elenis | 2023, won — web designer could refuse same-sex wedding website, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization | filed amicus, and numerous transgender cases. ADF lawyers have drafted model anti-LGBTQ legislation adopted in multiple states. Designated a "hate group" by the SPLC for its positions on LGBTQ rights. Close ties to Family Research Council and the broader Christian nationalist policy network.
Religious liberty litigationAnti-LGBTQ casesSCOTUS litigationModel legislationChristian nationalist
Family Research Council
501(c)(3/4)  ·  Founded 1983  ·  Washington, DC  ·  President: Tony Perkins
Christian right policy organization designated a "hate group" by the SPLC for anti-LGBTQ positions. Strong influence on T1 and Term Two social policy. Close ties to Alliance Defending Freedom. Project 2025 advisory council member. Tony Perkins has had direct access to both Trump administrations. FRC's policy agenda has been substantially implemented in Term Two executive orders on DEI, transgender issues, and religious liberty.
Christian nationalist policyAnti-LGBTQAbortion policyProject 2025 advisoryTony Perkins
Turning Point USA
501(c)(3)  ·  Founded 2012  ·  Led by Charlie Kirk  ·  Scottsdale, AZ
Youth mobilization and media operation with a significant campus presence. Charlie Kirk has had direct access to Trump throughout Term One and Term Two and hosts a major talk radio and podcast presence. Runs Turning Point Action | 501(c)(4) as its political arm. Hosted Students for Trump through the 2024 election. Project 2025 advisory council member. Has been investigated for financial irregularities and foreign connections. Key node for mobilizing young conservative voters and spreading the MAGA media ecosystem.
Youth mobilizationMedia ecosystemCharlie KirkProject 2025 advisoryCampus organizing
RV
Russ Vought
OMB Director — Term One & Term Two
Founded the Center for Renewing America immediately after Term One. Principal author of Project 2025's OMB chapter. RNC Platform Policy Director in 2024. A longtime and explicit advocate for presidential impoundment doctrine — the position that the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is unconstitutional — and for systematically dismantling the administrative state. Described by journalists covering Term Two as the operational architect of the administration's most aggressive executive power claims. Has argued that most of the modern administrative state lacks constitutional basis and that the president has inherent authority to defund and dismantle it.
SM
Stephen Miller
Senior Policy Advisor Term One · Homeland Security Advisor Term Two
Founded America First Legal in 2021. The architect of Term One immigration policy — zero tolerance and family separation, the Muslim ban drafts, the DACA rescission attempt, and the asylum ban. Returned as the driving strategic force behind Term Two immigration enforcement including the Alien Enemies Act invocation, mass deportation operations at scale, the birthright citizenship order, and the reinstatement of Remain in Mexico. Has consistently been the most extreme voice on immigration in both administrations and has faced virtually no internal institutional resistance in Term Two.
LL
Leonard Leo
Former Federalist Society Co-Chair · Private judicial kingmaker
Curated the nominations of Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett as Federalist Society co-chair. Left in 2020 after receiving a $1.6 billion dark money transfer from electronics magnate Barre Seid through Marble Freedom Trust — the largest known dark money transfer in American history. Now operates a network of nonprofits including the 85 Fund, Honest Elections Project, and Donors Trust. Leo's network has been called the most powerful unelected influence in American law. All Term Two judicial nominees continue to be drawn from his pipeline. Leo also funds state-level judicial and election law campaigns.
KR
Kevin Roberts
Heritage Foundation President
Oversaw Heritage's $22 million Project 2025 effort. Served on Trump's 2016 transition team. Said in July 2024: "We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be." Has described Heritage's role explicitly as institutionalizing Trumpism. Under Roberts, Heritage has transformed from a traditional policy shop into an active participant in personnel and political strategy for the Trump administration. Heritage's "Project 2026" list of priorities signals it intends to continue directing administration policy through Term Two.
TH
Tom Homan
Term Two Border Czar
Served as ICE Acting Director under Term One, having joined the agency in 1984. A Project 2025 contributor affiliated with the America First Policy Institute. The operational architect of the mass deportation infrastructure deployed in Term Two, including use of military transportation and Guantanamo detention facilities for migrants, the Alien Enemies Act invocation against Venezuelan nationals, and large-scale enforcement operations in the interior of the country. Has publicly stated he has no intention of complying with court orders he views as obstructing enforcement operations — a statement that itself raises rule of law concerns.
EM
Elon Musk
DOGE Head | Term Two · Federal contractor
SpaceX, Tesla, and Starlink collectively hold billions of dollars in federal contracts — making Musk simultaneously the government's largest contractor and the director of a body tasked with cutting government spending. DOGE under Musk accessed Treasury payment systems, Social Security Administration records, Medicare and Medicaid data, and Department of Energy files. He donated more than $277 million to Trump's 2024 campaign before his appointment — the largest single donor contribution in that election. No recusal mechanism governed his dual role at any point during his time at DOGE. He departed DOGE in spring 2025 amid declining public approval and political controversy.
MM
Mark Meadows
Term One Chief of Staff
Founded the Conservative Partnership Institute after Term One. CPI provided administrative infrastructure for at least seven Project 2025 organizations — making it the connective tissue of the ecosystem. Indicted in Georgia's RICO election interference case alongside Trump and 17 others in August 2023; reportedly cooperated with federal investigators in the Special Counsel's investigation. A central figure in the planning and coordination surrounding January 6, 2021, including the effort to have states submit alternate electoral slates and the pressure campaign on Vice President Pence.
BC
Brendan Carr
FCC Chairman — Term Two
Authored the FCC chapter of Project 2025's Mandate for Leadership, in which he outlined a strategy for using broadcast license review as a tool to pressure media organizations and for consolidating media ownership. As chairman, has pursued investigations into CBS, ABC, and other networks over their coverage, moved to roll back ownership rules limiting local media consolidation, and targeted NPR and PBS. The FCC's traditional independence from direct presidential direction is directly implicated by his approach to using the agency as a media control mechanism.
JE
John Eastman
Claremont Institute Senior Fellow · January 6 Legal Architect
Constitutional law professor and Claremont Institute senior fellow who authored the legal memoranda arguing that Vice President Pence could refuse to certify the 2020 electoral vote count and that states could submit alternate electoral slates. Was present at the Willard Hotel "war room" in the days before January 6. His California state bar license was revoked for ethical violations related to his post-election conduct. The Eastman memo is considered the foundational legal document of the January 6 attempt to overturn the election.
PB
Pam Bondi
Attorney General — Term Two
Former Florida Attorney General | 2011–2019 who accepted a $25,000 campaign donation from the Trump Foundation in 2013 shortly before deciding not to join a multistate investigation of Trump University. Nominated as AG for Term Two after Matt Gaetz's nomination was withdrawn. As AG, has directed DOJ to pursue investigations of perceived political enemies, dismiss cases against Trump allies, and review prosecutions brought by the Biden-era DOJ. Has overseen the purging of career DOJ prosecutors and reassignment of civil rights division priorities.
PH
Pete Hegseth
Secretary of Defense — Term Two
Former Fox News host with no prior senior military or executive branch experience. Confirmed as Secretary of Defense after a contentious confirmation process involving allegations of sexual misconduct, excessive drinking, and financial mismanagement. Has directed the military to remove diversity programs and DEI-related training, purged senior military leadership, and prioritized "lethality" over inclusion. His directives have been controversial within the military establishment. Closely associated with the Christian nationalist military reform agenda.
Documented financial relationships connecting the political, organizational, and policy infrastructure. Dark money = funds flowing through 501(c)(4) organizations or donor-advised funds not required to publicly disclose donors. This section will expand as financial records become available.
Dark Money / Major Transfers
Barre Seid → Marble Freedom Trust | Leonard Leo$1.6 billion2021 — the largest known dark money transfer in US history; transferred via donation of Tripp Lite stock before its sale to fund Leo's judicial and political network
Heritage Foundation → Project 2025 | personnel preparation and policy development$22 million2022–2024; staffing database of 20,000 vetted conservatives, training academy, Mandate for Leadership production
AFPI → Leonard Leo's Honest Elections Project$4 million+2020–2023; election integrity and election denial infrastructure
AFPI → P2025-aligned groups | total documented$6.5 million+2020–2023; includes Heritage Action, Convention of States, and others
Convention of States → P2025 coalition groups | 4 entities$40,000+Documented per DeSmog financial filing analysis, 2021–2023
Dunn-linked networks → Personnel Policy Operations Courage Fund$3 million+Legal defense fund for former Trump administration officials facing prosecution
Conservative Partnership Institute → administrative support for 7 P2025 groupsUndisclosedProvides "administrative, staffing, and legal support" — dollar value not publicly disclosed
Campaign Finance / Political Spending
Elon Musk → Trump 2024 campaign and affiliated PACs$277 million+The largest single-donor contribution in the 2024 election cycle; the DOGE appointment followed
Heritage Action | c | 4 political spending — 2022 midterms$25 million+State legislative and congressional races; election integrity measures
Leonard Leo networks → state judicial electionsHundreds of millionsEstimated total across state supreme court races since 2005; exact figures difficult to track due to dark money structure
Federal Contractor Conflicts | Term Two
SpaceX federal contracts held while DOGE operating$15.4 billion+As of 2024; largest single NASA/DOD contractor; DOGE directed cuts to agencies that also contracted with SpaceX's competitors
Starlink / SpaceX — federal internet contracts$900 million+USDA rural broadband contracts; FCC emergency connectivity funds
Tesla — federal EV charging contracts threatened then restoredHundreds of millionsEV charging infrastructure program — industry beneficiary while Musk directed energy policy
Tax Policy / Direct Financial Benefit
TCJA corporate rate cut | 35% → 21%, permanent~$1.5 trillion10-year deficit cost per CBO; Trump Organization entities benefited directly as corporate taxpayers
Pass-through deduction — TCJA Section 199A$415 billion10-year cost; real estate LLCs — the structure of Trump Organization entities — were among the largest beneficiaries nationally
Estate tax exemption doubling | TCJA — expires 2025~$83 billion10-year cost; benefits large estates; Term Two seeks to make permanent
SALT deduction cap | $10,000 — revenue effect+$668 billion10-year revenue increase; effectively raised taxes on upper-middle class in high-tax blue states; Term Two seeks to expand SALT cap
Emoluments — Term One | Unresolved
Foreign government payments to Trump-branded hotels and properties during Term OneUndisclosedEmoluments Clause cases dismissed as moot after T1 ended; no ruling on merits; Trump Organization never subjected to financial audit; Saudi Arabia alone paid $270,000+ in hotel bills for lobbyists in 2017
Mar-a-Lago membership fees during Term One — doubled to $200,000 after inaugurationMillions annuallyAccess to the president available through private club membership; foreign nationals could purchase; no disclosures required
Trump Media & Technology Group — Truth Social$2–4 billionPaper value of Trump's stake in TMTG at various points; company generated minimal revenue; questions about who purchased stock and why
Trump Organization licensing / hotel revenue during Term One~$435 millionSelf-reported revenue 2017–2020; did not include source of foreign payments
Term Two Financial Conflicts
Trump memecoin launch — $TRUMP — January 2025$300 million+ in feesPersonal cryptocurrency launched days before inauguration; Trump family retained majority of supply; generated hundreds of millions in transaction fees; no regulatory disclosure framework existed for presidential memecoins
Saudi Arabia investment in Trump golf courses$2 billion+LIV Golf backed by Saudi sovereign wealth fund; Trump courses host LIV events; Saudi PGA deal negotiated during Term Two
Court cases involving Trump, his administration, and policies across both terms. Organized by subject. Each entry includes the legal question, procedural history, and outcome or current status. 226+ active cases as of April 2026 per Lawfare's litigation tracker.
Immigration — Term One
Washington v. Trump | 9th Circuit | 2017
First challenge to the travel ban | EO 13769
Administration Lost
Legal Question

Whether EO 13769 — the first travel ban — violated the Establishment Clause by targeting Muslims and exceeded the president's statutory authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Procedural History
W.D. Washington | Feb 3, 2017 Judge James Robart issued a nationwide temporary restraining order blocking the entire executive order within days of its signing. The administration was ordered to immediately stop enforcement globally.
9th Circuit | Feb 9, 2017 A three-judge panel unanimously denied the government's emergency motion to stay Judge Robart's TRO. The court found the government had not shown likelihood of success on the merits and that the states had standing to sue. The court cited due process violations and failure to show the ban was necessary for national security.
Outcome The administration withdrew EO 13769 and issued a revised travel ban | EO 13780 | rather than appealing. The 9th Circuit's ruling established that the states had standing to challenge the travel ban and that courts could review the president's national security immigration decisions.
Hawaii v. Trump | D. Hawaii / 9th Circuit / SCOTUS | 2017–2018
Second and third travel bans | EO 13780 and Proclamation 9645
Mixed — Third Version Upheld by SCOTUS
Legal Question

Whether successive travel ban executive orders violated the Establishment Clause by targeting Muslims based on religious animus and exceeded the president's authority under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(f).

Procedural History
D. Hawaii | Mar 15, 2017 Judge Derrick Watson issued a TRO blocking EO 13780, finding the order was motivated by religious animus based on Trump's own campaign statements. A similar order was issued by Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland.
4th Circuit | May 25, 2017 The full 4th Circuit en banc upheld the Maryland injunction 10-3, finding the order violated the Establishment Clause. Applied "endorsement test" — the order sent a message that Muslims are outsiders.
9th Circuit | Jun 12, 2017 Upheld the Hawaii injunction on INA statutory grounds, finding the order violated § 1152(a)(1)(A)'s prohibition on discrimination by nationality in immigrant visas.
SCOTUS | Jun 26, 2017 Partially stayed the injunctions — allowed the ban to apply to persons with no "bona fide relationship" to a US person or entity, while blocking it as to those who do. Granted certiorari for the fall term.
D. Hawaii | Oct 17, 2017 Blocked the third version | Proclamation 9645 | finding it "suffers from precisely the same maladies as its predecessor."
SCOTUS | Trump v. Hawaii | Jun 26, 2018 Upheld Proclamation 9645 5-4. Roberts wrote that the president had broad § 1182(f) authority and that the record of religious animus did not render a facially neutral proclamation invalid. Applied rational basis review and upheld the ban as furthering a legitimate government interest. Roberts also formally repudiated Korematsu v. United States as gravely wrong. Sotomayor's dissent: "the majority here deploys the same dangerous logic underlying Korematsu."
DHS v. Regents of the University of California | SCOTUS | 2020
DACA rescission challenge | consolidated with Trump v. NAACP and Wolf v. Vidal
Administration Lost 5-4
Legal Question

Whether the Trump administration's rescission of DACA was reviewable under the APA, and if so, whether the rescission was arbitrary and capricious.

Procedural History
DHS | Sep 5, 2017 Acting Secretary Elaine Duke announced DACA rescission based on AG Sessions' one-sentence conclusion that DACA was illegal, citing a Fifth Circuit ruling against DAPA | a related program.
N.D. Cal. | Jan 9, 2018 Judge William Alsup issued a nationwide injunction ordering the administration to continue accepting DACA renewals. Found the rescission was arbitrary and capricious.
E.D.N.Y. | Feb 13, 2018 Judge Nicholas Garaufis also blocked the rescission in Batalla Vidal v. Nielsen.
D.D.C. | Aug 3, 2018 Judge John Bates blocked the rescission in NAACP v. Trump, finding it arbitrary and capricious and ordering full DACA reinstatement including new applications.
9th Circuit | Nov 8, 2018 Upheld the California injunction, finding the rescission likely violated equal protection and the APA.
SCOTUS | Jun 18, 2020 Blocked rescission 5-4. Roberts wrote for the majority — joined by Ginsburg, Breyer, Kagan, and Sotomayor — holding: | 1 | the rescission was judicially reviewable; | 2 | Acting Secretary Duke failed to consider the reliance interests of 700,000 DACA recipients and failed to distinguish deportation protection from work authorization benefits. The Court did not rule on whether DACA itself was lawful. Remanded to DHS.
City and County of San Francisco v. Trump | N.D. Cal. / 9th Circuit | 2017–2018
Sanctuary cities defunding challenge | EO 13768
Administration Lost
Legal Question

Whether EO 13768 — directing withholding of federal grants from sanctuary jurisdictions — exceeded the president's constitutional authority, violating the separation of powers and the 10th Amendment.

Procedural History
N.D. Cal. | Apr 25, 2017 Judge William Orrick issued a nationwide preliminary injunction. Found the order was written so broadly to "reach all federal grants" and that the president has no constitutional authority to attach new conditions to congressionally appropriated spending. Only Congress can do this.
N.D. Cal. | Nov 20, 2017 Judge Orrick issued a permanent nationwide injunction, declaring section 9(a) of EO 13768 "unconstitutional on its face" for violating the separation of powers doctrine and the 5th and 10th Amendments.
9th Circuit | Aug 1, 2018 Affirmed the permanent injunction. SCOTUS declined to take up the case. The sweeping defunding mechanism was permanently blocked. A narrower version of DOJ grant conditions was upheld in separate litigation.
Immigration — Term Two
Trump v. Barbara | SCOTUS | 2025–2026
Birthright citizenship challenge | EO 14160
Pending — SCOTUS Argument April 2025
Legal Question

Whether EO 14160 ending birthright citizenship for children of undocumented or temporary immigrants is consistent with the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment and federal law codifying it. Secondary question: whether a single district court judge can issue a nationwide injunction binding on the entire executive branch.

Procedural History
D. Mass. | Feb 13, 2025 Judge Leo Sorokin | Reagan appointee | called the order "blatantly unconstitutional" and issued a nationwide preliminary injunction. Found the 14th Amendment's plain text and 127 years of precedent from United States v. Wong Kim Ark | 1898 | compelled blocking the order.
W.D. Wash. / D. N.H. / D. Md. Three other federal judges separately blocked the order. The administration appealed in multiple circuits simultaneously.
1st Circuit | Apr 2025 Affirmed the Massachusetts injunction. Administration sought emergency SCOTUS review.
SCOTUS | Sep 2025 Agreed to hear the case. Accepted primarily on the nationwide injunction question, not yet resolving the merits. After injunction ruling narrowed some nationwide blocks, lower courts issued new nationwide injunctions in suits by states and class plaintiffs.
SCOTUS | Oral Argument | Apr 1, 2026 Trump attended argument — first sitting president to do so. Solicitor General Sauer argued for the government; ACLU's Cecillia Wang argued for affected families. Justices' questions suggested skepticism of the merits claim on citizenship but interest in the nationwide injunction question. Decision expected by June 2026.
Trump v. J.G.G. | SCOTUS | 2025
Alien Enemies Act / Venezuelan deportations | emergency docket
SCOTUS Partially Blocked Administration
Legal Question

Whether the president's invocation of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act against Venezuelan nationals alleged to be Tren de Aragua gang members was lawful, and whether individuals facing removal under the AEA have due process rights to challenge their designation before removal.

Procedural History
D.D.C. | Mar 2025 Judge James Boasberg issued an emergency TRO halting deportation flights after learning flights were already in the air. The administration defied the order, completing the flights to El Salvador's CECOT prison.
D.C. Circuit | Mar 2025 Upheld the TRO. Administration sought emergency SCOTUS review, arguing courts had no jurisdiction to review AEA invocations.
SCOTUS | Apr 7, 2025 5-4 ruling | per curiam | held that AEA detainees must receive advance notice and opportunity to challenge their removal through habeas corpus in the district where they are detained — but that challenges must be brought in Texas | where detainees were held | not DC. Allowed some deportations to proceed while establishing the notice requirement. Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh dissented, arguing the Court lacked jurisdiction.
Ongoing Administration continued removals, arguing it had satisfied the notice requirement. Multiple habeas petitions filed in Texas. Administration argued courts in Texas had no jurisdiction. Litigation ongoing.
Noem v. Abrego Garcia | SCOTUS | 2025
Wrongful deportation — defiance of court order
Unanimous SCOTUS Order — Administration Defied
Legal Question

Whether the administration was required to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia — a Salvadoran man with a standing withholding-of-removal order — after wrongfully deporting him to El Salvador's CECOT prison, and what the limits of executive defiance of judicial orders are.

Procedural History
Background Abrego Garcia had a 2019 withholding-of-removal order protecting him from deportation to El Salvador due to documented gang persecution. In March 2025, ICE deported him anyway — the administration later claimed it was an "administrative error."
D. Md. | Apr 4, 2025 Judge Paula Xinis ordered the administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return by April 7. The administration refused, claiming it could not compel El Salvador.
SCOTUS | Apr 10, 2025 In an unsigned unanimous per curiam order, SCOTUS directed the administration to "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return "as soon as possible." The Court stated the district court could not order the executive to take specific diplomatic actions, but that "facilitate" was within the administration's authority and obligation.
D. Md. — Ongoing The administration continued to resist, interpreting "facilitate" as merely not blocking El Salvador's decision — rather than taking affirmative steps. Judge Xinis found the administration in contempt. The case became the central test of what happens when the executive branch refuses to comply with a unanimous Supreme Court order. Abrego Garcia remained in CECOT as of April 2026.
Executive Power / Administrative State
Trump v. Slaughter | Trump v. Cook | SCOTUS | 2025–2026
FTC commissioner and Federal Reserve governor firing — Humphrey's Executor challenge
Pending SCOTUS Decision
Legal Question

Whether the president may fire members of independent regulatory agencies — specifically FTC commissioners and Federal Reserve governors — who have statutory for-cause removal protections, overriding Humphrey's Executor v. US | 1935 |.

Procedural History
Background Trump fired FTC commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter in February 2025, saying their service was "inconsistent with my Administration's policies." He also fired Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. All had statutory protections allowing removal only for cause.
D.D.C. | Mar 2025 Judge Loren AliKhan reinstated Slaughter and Bedoya, citing Humphrey's Executor. A separate judge blocked Cook's removal.
D.C. Circuit | 2025 Upheld the reinstatements. Administration immediately appealed to SCOTUS on an emergency basis.
SCOTUS — Shadow Docket | 2025 Allowed Trump to remove the FTC commissioners while the case was pending — a significant signal that the Court was prepared to reconsider Humphrey's Executor. Kavanaugh wrote a concurrence signaling the Court's direction. Cook's case was kept separate and deferred.
SCOTUS — Pending 2026 Cases consolidated. Oral arguments held. Decision expected by June 2026. If Humphrey's Executor is overruled or narrowed, it would eliminate the independence of every multi-member regulatory commission in the federal government.
AFGE v. Trump | Multiple Districts | 2025
Mass federal worker firings — Schedule F and RIF challenges
Partially Blocked; Ongoing
Legal Question

Whether the mass termination of probationary federal employees and the reinstatement of Schedule F violated the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 and exceeded the president's constitutional removal authority.

Procedural History
N.D. Cal. | Feb 2025 Judge William Alsup ordered reinstatement of thousands of probationary federal workers who were terminated, finding the terminations violated federal law — agencies must follow specific RIF procedures and cannot disguise mass layoffs as individual performance terminations.
D. Md. | Feb 2025 Judge James Bredar also blocked aspects of the terminations.
SCOTUS — Shadow Docket | 2025 Allowed some mass firings to proceed while litigation continued, issuing a stay of the reinstatement orders. Did not resolve the underlying legal question.
Ongoing Multiple parallel cases in different circuits challenging different aspects of the workforce reduction program — Schedule F constitutionality, probationary employee procedural rights, and DOGE's authority to direct agency personnel actions. Hundreds of thousands of workers in legal limbo.
CREW v. Trump | 2nd Circuit | 2017–2021
Foreign Emoluments Clause challenge — hospitality industry competitors
Vacated as Moot — No Merits Ruling
Legal Question

Whether Trump's receipt of payments from foreign governments through his hotels and businesses violated the Foreign Emoluments Clause | Article I, Section 9 | which prohibits federal officials from accepting gifts or payments from foreign states without congressional consent.

Procedural History
S.D.N.Y. | 2017 CREW | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington | filed suit on behalf of hospitality industry competitors who lost business to Trump hotels from foreign government customers. Trump moved to dismiss for lack of standing.
2nd Circuit | 2020 Reversed the district court's dismissal, finding competitors had standing to sue because foreign government payments to Trump's businesses injured their competing businesses.
SCOTUS | Jan 25, 2021 Vacated the 2nd Circuit ruling and ordered dismissal as moot — Trump was no longer in office. Used the Munsingwear procedure, which wiped out the 2nd Circuit's standing ruling without any ruling on the merits. No court ever ruled on whether Trump violated the Emoluments Clause. The Brennan Center called this "the Supreme Court running out the clock."
Maryland and DC v. Trump | 4th Circuit | 2017–2021
Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Clause — Maryland and DC as plaintiffs
Vacated as Moot — No Merits Ruling
Legal Question

Whether Trump violated both Emoluments Clauses through his retention of the Trump International Hotel in Washington DC — which received payments from foreign dignitaries and domestic officials — and whether Maryland and DC had standing to sue.

Procedural History
D. Md. | 2017 Maryland AG Brian Frosh and DC AG Karl Racine filed suit. District court allowed the case to go forward; Trump appealed seeking immediate review.
4th Circuit | Jul 2019 Full 4th Circuit en banc ruled 8-6 that Maryland and DC had standing to pursue the case. Case remanded for discovery into Trump's finances — the administration had been attempting to avoid any financial disclosure.
SCOTUS | Jan 25, 2021 Same day as CREW — vacated and remanded with instructions to dismiss as moot. Again used Munsingwear procedure. No court ever reached the merits. Saudi Arabia alone paid approximately $270,000+ in hotel bills for lobbyists in 2017. The constitutional questions remain unresolved and no financial audit of the Trump Organization was ever conducted.
Trade / Tariffs
Learning Resources v. Trump | Court of International Trade / Federal Circuit / SCOTUS | 2025–2026
IEEPA tariff authority challenge | Liberation Day tariffs
Administration Lost — SCOTUS Ruled IEEPA Does Not Authorize Tariffs
Legal Question

Whether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act authorizes the president to impose tariffs, and whether trade deficits constitute a "national emergency" sufficient to trigger IEEPA.

Procedural History
D.D.C. | Apr 2025 Learning Resources and hand2mind — educational toy companies with China-manufactured products — filed suit arguing IEEPA does not authorize tariffs. District court agreed and issued a preliminary injunction in May 2025.
Court of International Trade | May 2025 CIT issued a similar ruling in a separate case brought by five businesses, holding IEEPA did not authorize tariff authority. Did not issue an injunction.
Federal Circuit | Aug 2025 Rejected Trump's appeal of the CIT ruling. Court held that IEEPA's text — authorizing regulation of "transactions" in international commerce — did not encompass tariffs, which are a form of tax.
SCOTUS | Argued Nov 5, 2025 SCOTUS took the case on an expedited basis given its major economic significance. Arguments revealed skepticism about the administration's broad reading of IEEPA.
SCOTUS | Decision Feb 20, 2026 In a majority opinion written by Chief Justice Roberts, SCOTUS held that IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs. The major questions doctrine required explicit congressional authorization for an action of this magnitude — and Congress had not provided it in IEEPA. The administration was required to halt tariffs imposed solely under IEEPA authority, though Section 232 and Section 301 tariffs were not affected.
Presidential Immunity / Criminal
Trump v. United States | SCOTUS | 2024
Presidential immunity from criminal prosecution — January 6 federal case
New Doctrine Established — Federal Prosecution Effectively Ended
Legal Question

Whether a former president enjoys immunity from federal criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to have occurred while in office, and if so, how broadly that immunity extends.

Procedural History
Special Counsel Indictment | Aug 1, 2023 Jack Smith indicted Trump on four counts related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election — conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy against rights, and seditious conspiracy-adjacent conduct.
D.D.C. | Dec 1, 2023 Judge Tanya Chutkan denied Trump's immunity claim, holding that former presidents have no immunity from federal criminal prosecution for official acts.
D.C. Circuit | Feb 6, 2024 Three-judge panel unanimously upheld Chutkan's ruling in a sweeping opinion, holding the Framers did not intend to grant immunity to former presidents for criminal conduct in office. "We cannot accept that the office of the Presidency places its former occupants above the law."
SCOTUS | Granted Cert | Feb 28, 2024 SCOTUS took the case, staying all proceedings in the trial court while it considered the immunity question — effectively delaying the trial past the 2024 election.
SCOTUS | Decision Jul 1, 2024 6-3 decision written by Roberts. Established a three-part framework: | 1 | absolute immunity for official acts within the president's core constitutional powers; | 2 | presumptive immunity for all official acts — rebuttable only by showing prosecution would not intrude on the executive's authority; | 3 | no immunity for unofficial private acts. Remanded to Judge Chutkan to apply the new framework — a process expected to take many months. Sotomayor dissented: "The President is now a king above the law." Jackson dissented separately: "The majority has lost sight of the forest for the trees."
D.D.C. | 2024–2025 Judge Chutkan began applying the immunity framework. DOJ under Jack Smith filed a brief identifying which alleged conduct was official vs. unofficial. Before the framework analysis was complete, Trump won the 2024 election.
DOJ | Jan 2025 Incoming Trump DOJ moved to dismiss all charges. Judge Chutkan granted the motion in January 2025. The federal January 6 prosecution was over. Jack Smith filed a report documenting the evidence he had gathered, concluding Trump would have been convicted had the prosecution proceeded.
United States v. Trump | S.D. Fla. | 2023–2024
Classified documents case — Mar-a-Lago
Dismissed by Judge Cannon
Legal Question

Whether Trump's retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after leaving office constituted unlawful retention of national defense information and obstruction of the government's attempts to recover them.

Procedural History
Background The National Archives discovered missing classified documents; Trump returned some but retained others. An FBI search of Mar-a-Lago on August 8, 2022 recovered approximately 100 classified documents including materials marked Top Secret/SCI — among the most sensitive in the US government.
Special Counsel Indictment | Jun 9, 2023 Jack Smith indicted Trump and aide Walt Nauta on 37 counts, later expanded to 40, including willful retention of national defense information, obstruction, and false statements.
S.D. Fla. — Judge Aileen Cannon Judge Cannon | a Trump appointee | repeatedly sided with Trump's legal positions, dismissed Smith's appointment as special counsel as unlawful | a ruling legal scholars called outlier | and issued a series of procedurally unusual decisions that significantly slowed the case.
11th Circuit | Dec 2023 Reversed Cannon's ruling that Trump had a right to a special master review of the seized materials. Smith sought to remove Cannon from the case; 11th Circuit declined.
S.D. Fla. | Jul 15, 2024 Judge Cannon dismissed the entire case, holding Jack Smith's appointment as special counsel was unconstitutional because it was not authorized by statute. Legal scholars were largely critical of the ruling. Smith appealed to the 11th Circuit.
DOJ | Nov 2024 Following Trump's election victory, DOJ moved to dismiss the appeal and the underlying case under the policy against prosecuting a sitting president. Cannon granted the dismissal. The case ended without a trial.
People of the State of New York v. Trump | N.Y. Supreme Court | 2024
Falsifying business records — hush money / Stormy Daniels
Convicted on All 34 Counts — Sentenced to Unconditional Discharge
Legal Question

Whether Trump falsified business records to conceal hush money payments to Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election, and whether those falsifications constituted felonies because they were made to conceal another crime — violation of federal campaign finance law.

Procedural History
Manhattan DA Indictment | Mar 30, 2023 DA Alvin Bragg indicted Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree — the first criminal indictment of a former US president in history.
Extensive Pretrial Litigation | 2023–2024 Trump sought to move the case to federal court | denied |; sought to dismiss on immunity grounds | denied |; sought to dismiss arguing the state was using a federal crime as the underlying offense | denied |. Multiple delays granted.
Trial | Apr–May 2024 Trial began April 15, 2024. Key witnesses included Michael Cohen | former Trump fixer | and David Pecker | former National Enquirer publisher |. Cohen testified he made the payment to Daniels and was reimbursed through falsified legal expense records.
Verdict | May 30, 2024 Jury convicted Trump on all 34 counts after deliberating approximately 9.5 hours. Trump became the first former US president convicted of a felony. He was also the presumptive Republican nominee for president at the time of conviction.
Sentence | Jan 10, 2025 Judge Juan Merchan sentenced Trump to an unconditional discharge — no jail time, no probation, no fine — citing the "unprecedented" nature of sentencing a president-elect. Trump appealed the conviction. The case is on appeal.
State of Georgia v. Trump et al. | Fulton County Superior Court | 2023–ongoing
RICO election interference — Georgia 2020 election
Active — Multiple Defendants Pleaded; Trump Case Paused
Legal Question

Whether Trump and 18 co-defendants engaged in a criminal racketeering enterprise to overturn Georgia's 2020 presidential election results, including through false electors, pressure on election officials, and unlawful access to election equipment in Coffee County.

Procedural History
DA Indictment | Aug 14, 2023 Fulton County DA Fani Willis indicted Trump and 18 co-defendants on 41 counts under Georgia's RICO statute. All 19 defendants were charged with participating in a criminal enterprise to overturn the election.
Co-Defendant Pleas | 2023–2024 Several co-defendants pleaded guilty. Sidney Powell pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate. Ken Chesebro pleaded guilty. Jenna Ellis pleaded guilty, saying she was "ashamed" of what she had done. Scott Hall pleaded guilty.
Disqualification Motion | 2024 Trump sought to disqualify DA Willis over a romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. Superior Court judge found the relationship created an appearance of impropriety but allowed Willis to remain if Wade withdrew — Wade withdrew.
Georgia Court of Appeals | 2024 Accepted an interlocutory appeal on the disqualification question, pausing all trial proceedings.
Status Case effectively paused through Trump's election victory. His attorneys have argued presidential immunity bars state prosecution of official acts. Georgia courts will need to rule on whether the immunity doctrine extends to state criminal prosecution — a question the Supreme Court's immunity ruling did not directly address.
Civil Rights / Social Policy
Bostock v. Clayton County | SCOTUS | 2020
Title VII sex discrimination — gender identity and sexual orientation
Administration Position Rejected 6-3
Legal Question

Whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — which prohibits discrimination "because of sex" — extends to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Procedural History
Background Three consolidated cases: Gerald Bostock | fired for joining a gay softball league |, Donald Zarda | fired for being gay |, and Aimee Stephens | fired for being transgender |. The Trump administration filed briefs in SCOTUS arguing Title VII did not cover sexual orientation or gender identity.
SCOTUS | Jun 15, 2020 6-3 decision written by Justice Gorsuch | a Trump appointee | held that Title VII's prohibition on discrimination "because of sex" necessarily encompasses discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. "An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex." Roberts and the four liberal justices joined Gorsuch. Alito, Thomas, and Kavanaugh dissented.
Significance The ruling established federal employment protections for approximately 8.1 million LGBTQ+ workers. It also has implications for Title IX — the education discrimination statute with parallel "sex" language — which Term Two is actively contesting in multiple cases currently before SCOTUS.
Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization | SCOTUS | 2022
Abortion rights — overruling Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey
Roe Overruled 6-3
Legal Question

Whether the Constitution protects a right to obtain an abortion, and whether Roe v. Wade | 1973 | and Planned Parenthood v. Casey | 1992 | should be overruled.

Procedural History
Background Mississippi enacted a law banning abortion after 15 weeks — directly in conflict with Casey's viability standard | approximately 22-24 weeks |. The challenge was brought by Jackson Women's Health Organization, Mississippi's only abortion clinic.
5th Circuit | Dec 2021 Struck down the Mississippi law under Casey's viability standard.
SCOTUS | May 2022 — Dobbs Leak A draft majority opinion written by Alito was leaked to Politico — the first major SCOTUS opinion leak in decades — revealing the Court intended to overturn Roe. The leak itself became a major controversy; a subsequent investigation failed to identify the leaker.
SCOTUS | Jun 24, 2022 6-3 ruling written by Alito overruled Roe and Casey, holding the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion and returning the question to the states. Roberts concurred in the judgment but would have upheld the Mississippi 15-week law without overruling Roe. Kavanaugh's concurrence stated the ruling did not prohibit Congress from legislating on abortion. Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan dissented in a jointly authored opinion.
Significance The ruling was made possible by Trump's three appointments creating the 6-3 supermajority. Within weeks, approximately half of US states moved to ban or severely restrict abortion. The ruling is the most significant change to American constitutional law since Brown v. Board of Education.
Environment / Administrative Law
West Virginia v. EPA | SCOTUS | 2022
Clean Power Plan — major questions doctrine
EPA Lost 6-3 — Major Questions Doctrine Established
Legal Question

Whether Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act authorized EPA to devise a cap-and-trade system requiring the power sector to shift generation from coal to natural gas and renewables — a system-wide approach rather than plant-specific controls.

Procedural History
Background Obama's Clean Power Plan used Section 111(d) to require power companies to either upgrade their coal plants or shift generation to cleaner sources. Trump's EPA replaced it with the Affordable Clean Energy rule, limiting EPA to plant-level controls. DC Circuit struck down the ACE rule in January 2021. SCOTUS then took up the underlying CPP question.
DC Circuit | Jan 19, 2021 Vacated the ACE rule. West Virginia and other states petitioned SCOTUS to address whether EPA could impose system-wide generation-shifting requirements under Section 111(d).
SCOTUS | Jun 30, 2022 6-3 decision written by Roberts. Held that Section 111(d) did not authorize EPA to mandate grid-wide energy transitions — this was a "major question" requiring clear congressional authorization, which the vague Section 111(d) text did not provide. Established the major questions doctrine as a constitutional canon: courts must not assume Congress authorized executive agencies to resolve major economic and political questions without clear statutory authorization. Kagan's dissent called it "a great power grab" by the judiciary.
Significance The major questions doctrine has since been applied to challenge numerous federal agency actions including the IEEPA tariffs | Learning Resources v. Trump |, CDC eviction moratoriums, OSHA vaccine mandates, and student loan forgiveness. It is the most significant administrative law ruling in decades.
Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo | SCOTUS | 2024
Overruling Chevron deference — administrative law
Chevron Overruled 6-3 — Courts Now Interpret Statutes De Novo
Legal Question

Whether Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council | 1984 | — which required courts to defer to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes — should be overruled.

Procedural History
Background New Jersey fishing companies challenged NMFS's requirement that they pay for federal monitors on their vessels. The underlying legal question was minor; the case was a vehicle to challenge Chevron deference — a 40-year-old precedent requiring courts to defer to agencies' reasonable interpretations of ambiguous statutes.
SCOTUS | Jun 28, 2024 6-3 decision written by Roberts overruled Chevron, holding that courts must exercise independent judgment in determining what the law means — they cannot defer to an agency's interpretation simply because the statute is ambiguous. This was the most significant administrative law ruling since Chevron itself, decided 40 years earlier. Kagan's dissent: "The Court has substituted its own judgment for that of expert agencies on thousands of regulatory questions that Congress intended agencies to answer."
Significance Overruling Chevron means every prior ruling that relied on Chevron deference is now potentially challengeable. Agencies that relied on Chevron to interpret their own authority must now defend their interpretations as the only correct reading of statutory text — not merely a reasonable one. Massively empowers federal courts relative to executive agencies. Enables far more aggressive challenges to regulations across healthcare, environment, finance, and labor.
Healthcare
California v. Texas | SCOTUS | 2021
ACA constitutionality — individual mandate zeroed out
ACA Upheld 7-2 — States Lacked Standing
Legal Question

Whether the ACA's individual mandate became unconstitutional after Congress set the tax penalty to zero in 2017, and if so, whether the rest of the ACA must fall with it.

Procedural History
N.D. Tex. | Dec 2018 Judge Reed O'Connor ruled the entire ACA unconstitutional after the individual mandate penalty was set to zero — holding the mandate was no longer a valid tax under NFIB v. Sebelius, and that the mandate was inseverable from the rest of the ACA.
5th Circuit | Dec 2019 Agreed the mandate was unconstitutional with a zero penalty but remanded on severability — whether the rest of the ACA could stand without it. The Trump administration filed a brief arguing the entire ACA should fall.
SCOTUS | Jun 17, 2021 7-2 ruling — Breyer wrote for the majority, joined by Roberts, Sotomayor, Kagan, Kavanaugh, Sotomayor, and Barrett — holding that Texas and other Republican states lacked standing to challenge the ACA because they could not show they suffered any concrete injury from the zero-dollar mandate. Did not rule on whether the mandate was constitutional. The ACA survived. Alito and Gorsuch dissented on standing, arguing the states did have standing and that the mandate was unconstitutional.
First Amendment
Perkins Coie v. Trump | D.D.C. | 2025
Law firm retaliation executive order — unconstitutional conditions
EO Blocked — Unconstitutional Retaliation
Legal Question

Whether an executive order revoking security clearances and federal contract eligibility for a law firm that represented clients adverse to Trump violated the First Amendment's protection of the right to legal counsel and the unconstitutional conditions doctrine.

Procedural History
Background EO signed March 6, 2025 targeted Perkins Coie — a prominent law firm that had represented Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, among other clients — threatening security clearance revocations, contract terminations, and building access bans.
D.D.C. | Mar 12, 2025 Judge Beryl Howell issued a TRO blocking the EO within days, calling it an attempt to use the coercive power of the federal government to retaliate against a law firm for its constitutionally protected legal representation. Found the government had no likelihood of success on the merits.
D.D.C. | Preliminary Injunction | Apr 2025 Issued a preliminary injunction blocking the EO in full. Found it violated the First Amendment and the unconstitutional conditions doctrine — the government cannot condition benefits on abandonment of constitutional rights. Also found it violated due process by denying Perkins Coie notice and opportunity to be heard before sanctions.
Significance Similar EOs targeting Paul Weiss and other firms were also blocked or rescinded after firms made pro bono commitments. The chilling effect on legal representation of Trump opponents was severe regardless of the legal outcomes — many firms declined to represent clients adverse to the administration out of fear of retaliation.
Harvard University v. Department of Education | D. Mass. | 2025
University funding freeze — First Amendment / Title VI
Funding Freeze Blocked
Legal Question

Whether the administration's freeze of $2+ billion in federal grants and contracts to Harvard — conditioning reinstatement on Harvard's adoption of specific ideological policies regarding DEI and its response to campus protests — violated the First Amendment, Title VI, and the APA.

Procedural History
Background The administration pressured Harvard to eliminate DEI programs, change admissions practices, cooperate with federal antisemitism investigations, and restructure its governance. When Harvard refused in April 2025, the administration froze $2.2 billion in federal grants and contracts — the largest funding action against a single university in US history.
Harvard v. DOE | D. Mass. | Apr 2025 Harvard filed suit arguing the funding freeze was unconstitutional retaliation for protected speech and viewpoint, violated Title VI's procedural requirements for adverse funding actions, and was arbitrary and capricious under the APA.
D. Mass. | May 2025 Judge Allison Burroughs | a Harvard Law graduate | blocked the funding freeze, finding Harvard was likely to succeed on its First Amendment and Title VI claims. The court found the administration violated its own Title VI procedures — which require notice and opportunity to cure before funding termination — and that the freeze appeared designed to punish constitutionally protected academic and expressive activity.
Ongoing Case on appeal. Administration has continued parallel pressure including demanding student records and threatening international student visa programs. The case is the leading test of the administration's ability to use funding as a weapon to coerce private institutions into ideological compliance.