Monday, January 20, 2025
Day 1
15 documented wins
Biological sex restored in federal policy
The win
The government was ordered to recognize two sexes — male and female — in IDs, prisons, shelters, sports, and facilities, and to stop promoting gender ideology with federal funds.
For Americans
Women keep female-only spaces in federal shelters and prisons. Girls keep girls’ sports. Parents dealing with school forms get a government that will not pretend sex is a vibe.
Cartels designated as foreign terrorists
The win
An order started the process of designating Mexican cartels and allied gangs as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, opening terrorism tools against the networks that move fentanyl and people.
For Americans
Fentanyl is the leading killer of Americans 18–45. Treating cartels as terrorists, not just drug rings, gives prosecutors and Treasury more ways to freeze money, block travel, and take shooters off U.S. streets.
Department of Government Efficiency
The win
The U.S. Digital Service was reorganized as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to modernize systems, cut waste, and coordinate a government-wide efficiency drive.
For Americans
Every wasted contract is money that did not go to roads, border agents, or your refund. DOGE’s job is to make the bureaucracy smaller and the remaining parts actually work.
Emergency price relief for families
The win
A memorandum ordered agencies to attack the cost-of-living crisis — housing, energy, food, and regulation — and to report concrete relief steps within 30 days.
For Americans
This is the instruction to stop treating inflation as someone else’s problem. The test regular people use is the grocery ticket and the rent, not a White House chart.
Ending federal DEI programs
The win
Federal DEI offices, officers, and preference programs were ordered shut down within 60 days. Hiring and contracting were pointed back at merit.
For Americans
Taxpayers stop paying for race and identity scorekeeping inside every agency. Job-seekers compete on work, not demographic checkboxes, and contractors are not graded on DEI paperwork.
Exit from the Paris climate deal
The win
An America First environmental order directed withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and related pacts that bound U.S. energy policy to international targets.
For Americans
American energy decisions get made in the U.S., not in a UN conference. That is the difference between a factory staying open in Ohio and a carbon ledger in Brussels.
Federal hiring freeze, in-office work
The win
A civilian hiring freeze (with exceptions for military, immigration, and public safety) and a return-to-office directive ended remote-first federal work.
For Americans
A smaller, present workforce is cheaper and easier to manage. Taxpayers get offices that answer the phone, and agencies stop growing by default.
Initial rescissions of Biden-era orders
The win
Dozens of prior-administration executive orders and actions — on climate, equity, energy, and immigration — were revoked in a single Day 1 signing.
For Americans
Policy whiplash is real, but so is a clean slate. Rules that raised energy costs, expanded parole programs, or embedded DEI across agencies were taken off the books the first afternoon.
National emergency at the southern border
The win
A proclamation declared a national emergency at the southern border and directed Defense Department support for DHS — troops, engineering, and logistics — against cartels, smugglers, and illegal crossings.
For Americans
Regular people feel this as a closed door instead of an honor system. When the military can build barriers and backstop Border Patrol, crossings drop and fentanyl corridors get harder to run.
National energy emergency
The win
Trump declared a national energy emergency so agencies could expedite pipelines, generation, and grid work using emergency authorities instead of multi-year reviews.
For Americans
Families do not live on 10-year EIS timelines. Emergency permitting is meant to keep the lights on and diesel in farm tanks when the grid is tight.
Restoring freedom of speech, ending federal censorship
The win
An order barred federal agencies from leaning on platforms to suppress lawful speech and directed a review of prior government–tech censorship partnerships.
For Americans
If you got throttled for a vaccine question or a school-board rant, this is the policy that tells the government to get out of your mentions. Ordinary people can argue in public without a nameless flagger at DHS.
Securing Our Borders
The win
On the first afternoon of the 47th presidency, Trump signed an executive order to restore operational control of the southern border: finish barriers, end catch-and-release, resume remain-in-Mexico-style returns, and remove people here unlawfully.
For Americans
Towns along the border and interior cities stop absorbing a daily stream of releases. CBP later reported southwest encounters falling to levels not seen in decades, which means less strain on shelters, ERs, and school enrollments.
TikTok enforcement delayed
The win
An order applied the foreign-adversary apps law to TikTok while delaying the shutdown, keeping the app alive for U.S. users pending a sale or other resolution.
For Americans
Tens of millions of Americans who use TikTok for news, small-business sales, and entertainment did not wake up to a black screen on Inauguration Day.
Unleashing American energy
The win
Day-one energy policy reversed the prior administration’s restrictions, fast-tracked permitting for oil, gas, coal, and nuclear, and paused Inflation Reduction Act disbursements that favored favored green projects.
For Americans
More domestic production is the lever on gasoline, heating oil, and electricity. When drillers and refiners can get permits, pump prices and winter heating bills have a chance to fall instead of being a monthly surprise.
Withdrawal from the World Health Organization
The win
The U.S. began withdrawing from WHO, suspending support, and standing up American replacements for the functions Washington actually needs.
For Americans
Pandemic rules that empty churches and lock kids out of school will not be written in Geneva. Health policy returns to elected Americans, and dues stop flowing to an organization the White House said failed the COVID test.