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Day One: A Checklist For an Ominous Start [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-01-21

If you’re like me – and why would you want to be – you didn’t watch any of the inauguration festivities for four-time indicted, twice impeached, sexual assaulter, tax fraudster, insurrection inspirer, wannabe dictator, convicted felon, President Donald Trump.

I guess a lot of people wanted to see what he had to say, but why does that matter because he just says the same things over and over again and pretty much all of them are lies anyway. I did see the video of Elon Musk’s Nazi salute. Why doesn’t that surprise me?

Of course, what jumped out at us was Trump issuing clemency for all of the nearly 1,600 people charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. He commuted the sentences of 14 members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers militia, most of whom were convicted of seditious conspiracy, the New York Times reported.

So, he couldn’t wait one day to remind us why he’s the most corrupt president in history. At least he made it clear right off the bat that the rule of law is over in this country. Oh, not for most of us, but for him, his allies, and anyone who’ll help him in his quest to attain and hold power.

I have a feeling this isn’t the last we’ll hear of his militia groupies. After all, they know they can do whatever he tells them and he’ll just pardon them in the end.

Scary, very scary.

Don’t let this travesty of justice cause you to take your eye off the ball. As appalling as Trump’s “get out of jail free” play is, he also signed a bunch of executive orders yesterday. As expected, they follow along with his anti-immigrant, anti-environment, pro-fossil fuel, revenge-motivated agenda.

One thing I don’t understand is his declaring of energy and southern border “emergencies” that really aren’t emergencies so he can call out the military and do what he wants without needing Congressional authorization. Can he really just make up emergencies like that?

A lot of these actions are very disturbing. Some will be challenged in court. Democratic attorney generals from 18 states, the city of San Francisco, and Washington D.C. have already filed an action against Trump’s call to end birthright citizenship, which is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.

You remember the Constitution. That’s the thing Republicans love except for the parts they hate.

It’s important we know what’s going on. Trump’s assault on our democracy, our rule of law, and the essence of what this country stands for is just beginning. So, I plagiarized (don’t tell anyone) a list of Trump executive orders as reported in the New York Times. I share them with you without comment (for now).

Here they are:

Federal Work Force

*Freeze federal hiring, except for members of the military or “positions related to immigration enforcement, national security, or public safety.”

*Restore a category of federal workers known as Schedule F, which would lack the same job protections enjoyed by career civil servants.

*Halt new federal rules from going into effect before Trump administration appointees can review them.

*Review the investigative actions of the Biden administration, “to correct past misconduct by the federal government related to the weaponization of law enforcement and the weaponization of the intelligence community.”

*Grant top secret security clearances to White House staff without going through traditional vetting procedures.

*End remote work policies and order federal workers back to the office full time.

Immigration and the Border

*Bar asylum for people newly arriving at the southern border.

*Move to end birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, for the children of undocumented immigrants. The president cannot change the Constitution on his own, so it is not yet clear how Trump plans to withhold the benefits of citizenship to a group of people born in the United States. Any move is all but certain to be challenged in court.

*Suspend the Refugee Admissions Program “until such time as the further entry into the United States of refugees aligns with the interests of the United States.”

*Declare migrant crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border to be a national emergency, allowing Trump to unilaterally unlock federal funding for border wall construction, without approval from Congress, for stricter enforcement efforts.

*Resume a policy requiring people seeking asylum to wait in Mexico while an immigration judge considers their cases.

*Consider designating cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations.”

Gender and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives

*Terminate DEI programs across the federal government.

*Recognize two sexes: male and female.

*Remove protections for transgender people in federal prisons.

Tariffs and Trade

*Direct federal agencies to begin an investigation into trade practices, including persistent trade deficits and unfair currency practices, as well as examine flows of migrants and drugs from Canada, China, and Mexico to the United States.

*Assess China’s compliance with a trade deal. Trump signed in 2020, as well as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which Trump signed in 2020 to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement.

*Order the government to assess the feasibility of creating an “External Revenue Service” to collect tariffs and duties.

*Carry out a full review of the U.S. industrial and manufacturing base to assess whether further national security-related tariffs are warranted.

Energy and the Environment

*Withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, the pact among almost all nations to fight climate change.

*Declare a national energy emergency, a first in U.S. history, which could unlock new powers to suspend certain environmental rules or expedite permitting of certain mining projects.

*Attempt to reverse Biden’s ban on offshore drilling for 625 million acres of federal waters.

*Begin the repeal of Biden-era regulations on tailpipe pollution from cars and light trucks, which have encouraged automakers to manufacture more electric vehicles.

*Roll back energy-efficiency regulations for dishwashers, shower heads, and gas stoves.

*Open the Alaska wilderness to more oil and gas drilling.

*Restart reviews of new export terminals for liquefied natural gas, something the Biden administration had paused.

*Halt the leasing of federal waters for offshore wind farms.

*Eliminate environmental justice programs across the government, which are aimed at protecting poor communities from excess pollution.

*Review all federal regulations that impose an “undue burden” on the development or use of a variety of energy sources, particularly coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear power, hydropower, and biofuels.

TikTok Ban

*Consult federal agencies on any national security risks posed by the social media platform, then “pursue a resolution that protects national security while saving a platform used by 170 million Americans.” Trump ordered his attorney general not to enforce a law that banned the site for 75 days to give his administration “an opportunity to determine the appropriate course forward.”

Other

*Withdraw from the World Health Organization.

*Rename Mount Denali and the Gulf of Mexico.

*Ensure that states carrying out the death penalty have a “sufficient supply” of lethal injection drugs.

*Fly the American flag at full-staff on Monday and on future Inauguration Days.

*Implement the Department of Government Efficiency, the Elon Musk-led cost-cutting initiative.

*Revoke security clearances for 51 signers of a letter suggesting that the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop could be Russian disinformation.

***

Thank you for reading my post. You can see my other writings on my blog: Musings of a Nobody. Please share and subscribe for free via email on its home page.

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