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Welcome to the second Donald Trump era in Washington, although in practice, the first never really ended.
A majority of Republicans in the House Representatives voted to overturn the 2020 election results. Much of the party referred to him as “President Trump,” even after he left D.C.
Now back as president, Trump delivered a dark and heavily partisan inaugural address Monday. He used it to rehash plenty of his old scores, from arguing that he had been politically persecuted to promising that “the violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end.”
Trump also used his opening remarks to tout the litany of various executive orders (EOs) that he plans to sign as president. Unsurprisingly, many of the EOs focus heavily on immigration, such as listing drug cartels as a terrorist organization, declaring a national emergency to surge troops at the U.S.-Mexico border and supposedly ending birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment of U.S. Constitution.
Other EOs focus on rolling back protectons for LGBTQ+ people, with an expected series of anti-trans orders. Trump announced in his speech that “the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female” and that “sexes that are not changeable, and they are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”
He also bragged about executive orders that will allow for oil drilling in regions such as Alaska, declaring “drill baby, drill.”
As president, Trump has plenty of authority to enact his policies — however, there are still some limits on the extent of what can be changed by executive order. Here’s some areas where he might have trouble.
Immigration
The American public has largely moved to support more restrictive immigration policies since Trump took office in 2017. The Senate is slated to pass the Laken Riley Act, which would allow for immigration authorities to detain migrants arrested for theft, even if they are not convicted, after a number of Democrats joined Republicans to pass the legislation. The president will also be able to reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” policy from his previous administration, which forces migrants to stay in Mexico as their immigration cases are pending.
But this is where he faces difficulties. For one, while Trump wants to beef up spending at the U.S.-Mexico border, he will need to get money from Congress to do so. Republicans have only 218 seats in the House and a 53-seat majority in the Senate, meaning they have to deal with tight margins and get every Republican on board.
Then, there’s his executive order to end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants. Almost certainly, civil rights groups will take this up with the courts as unconstitutional, since birthright citizenship is written into the 14th Amendment. Even if the Supreme Court says this passes muster, it will inevitably be tied up in the legal system for longer than Trump wants.
Trump faces a huge deadline at the end of the year as most of the tax cuts under the law that he signed in 2017 will expire. A big reason why Republicans rebuffed a tax deal that included business investments and a new child tax credit last year was that they hoped that Trump would come back and let them have a better negotiating deal. Presidents share power with Congress when it comes to imposing tariffs, a large part of Trump’s proposed economic agenda.
This part is largely beyond Trump’s control because it mostly requires that every Republican get on board in order to pass a bill via budget reconciliation, which allows for the majority to sidestep a filibuster as long as the legislation is germane to the federal budget. On top of that, Trump talked about an external revenue service to collect his proposed tariffs, which would require an act of Congress. It’s also not clear if tariffs would be able to make up for lost revenue from taxation.
Everything else
Trump mentioned in his address that he wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico “the Gulf of America.” This, again, would require an act of Congress. One of Trump’s biggest supporters, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, has legislation that could pass the House of Representatives but would likely not pass through the Senate.
Lastly, there’s Trump’s talk about retaking the Panama Canal. Again, this would not only require money to come from Congress but also require a negotiated agreement with Panama, or at worst, the use of military force to seize it for the United States.
Trump has more wind at his back this time than during his first administration — in part because fewer Republicans like to cross him, and many agree with his extreme ideologies.
Democrats, still reeling after being battered badly during the 2024 election, might be inclined to go along with at least some of his policies. But that doesn’t mean it’ll all be smooth sailing.
This post was originally published on here
