by Oletta Branstiter

According to WhiteHouse.gov, President Trump has signed 35 executive orders, with the purpose of unraveling many of the Progressive actions by previous President Obama, but which can be undone by any future president. The most conservative of these may include:

• Executive Order: Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements
• Presidential Executive Order on Strengthening the Cybersecurity of Federal Networks and Critical Infrastructure
• Presidential Executive Order on Improving Accountability and Whistleblower Protection at the Department of Veterans Affairs
• Presidential Executive Order on Enforcing Statutory Prohibitions on Federal Control of Education
• Presidential Executive Order on the Review of Designations Under the Antiquities Act
• Presidential Executive Order on Identifying and Reducing Tax Regulatory Burdens
• Presidential Executive Order on Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth
• Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States
• Presidential Executive Order on Restoring the Rule of Law, Federalism, and Economic Growth by Reviewing the “Waters of the United States” Rule
• Presidential Executive Order on Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs 

One Executive Order is particularly troubling, given the lack of Constitutional comprehension of a President who won the Republican nomination in spite of his promise to “protect Article XII”.

Presidential Executive Order on a Comprehensive Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch was signed with the underlying understanding that President Trump’s son-in-law would be in charge.

According to mercurynews.com:

“Jared has been put in charge of a powerful new West Wing office. Viewed in the president’s inner circle as a “SWAT team” of strategic consultants, the White House Office on American Innovation will have ‘sweeping authority’ to overhaul the federal bureaucracy and to potentially privatize some government functions.”

President Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, has also been granted an office in the White House, serving as a close adviser to her father, accompanying him on foreign trips and even conducting her own meeting with Congressional representatives. One wonders whether the move to transfer Trump businesses to Mr. and Mrs. Kushner fully satisfies ethics rules in light of their close proximity and influences in Executive Branch decisions and interests.

In the President’s own words published in a truncated Tweet, he expounded on this decision to empower his children to run his businesses:

Presidency. Two of my children, Don and Eric, plus executives, will manage them. No new deals will be done during my term(s) in office.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2016

The new President has signed 20 pieces of legislation, many of which are comparatively meaningless resolutions and only two that might be considered of long-term national import: S544:

A bill to amend the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to modify the termination date for the Veterans Choice Program, and for other purposes.

and, perhaps, S44:

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017

In spite of leading his faithful in chants of “Lock her up!”, Trump’s promise to prosecute Hillary Clinton for crimes involving her use of a private server while acting as Secretary of State under President Obama has been publicly dropped.

The promise of a southern border wall has hit a legal wall of its own, repeatedly squashed by district federal judges.

While southern border illegal crossings have dropped 40% (perhaps due to unreasonable, media-hyped fears of xenophobia), instead of decreasing refugee immigration Trump’s State Dept. has doubled the rate of legal admission of foreign refugees with no word on the President’s promise of “extreme vetting”, in fact, inexplicably, in a recent tweet, the President said, “extreme vetting” is already occurring – agreeing with former President Obama on this point.

Obamacare has not been repealed, in fact, Trump wants to spend more money on a new national health care insurance program so that Republicans can make it “the best”.

I suggest that we add more dollars to Healthcare and make it the best anywhere. ObamaCare is dead – the Republicans will do much better!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 28, 2017

Tax reform is stalled in committees, based partially on the inability to pass the new, empowered American Health Care Act.

The fallout from the quagmire of investigations into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian representative and the questionable veracity of the President’s dealings with former FBI Director James Comey continues to plague the new administration.

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