President-elect Donald Trump prepares more than 100 decrees from the first day of the new White House, in what amounts to a shock-and-awe campaign over border security, deportations and a rush on other policy priorities.
Trump briefed Republican senators on the upcoming attack during a private meeting at the Capitol. Many actions are expected to be launched on Inauguration Day, January 20, when he takes office. Trump’s top adviser, Stephen Miller, outlined to Republican senators border security and immigration control measures that should be launched as soon as possible. Axios first reported on Trump and his team’s presentation.
“There will be a substantial number of them,” said Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D.
The president-elect’s allies have prepared a series of executive orders that Trump could sign quickly on a wide range of issues – from the crackdown on the US-Mexico border to energy development to federal rules on Schedule F workforce, gender policies in schools, and vaccination mandates. among other first-day promises made during his campaign.
While executive actions are common on the first day of a new White House, as a new president puts his stamp on certain priorities, what Trump and his team are planning is an executive punch unprecedented in modern times then as he prepares to exercise power in new ways. , bypassing the legislative apparatus of Congress.
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Some could be significant, others could be more symbolic messages of the new president’s direction.
Senators briefed by Trump and his team during a lengthy session on Capitol Hill this week expect the new administration to reverse many of the Biden administration’s executive orders while implementing its own proposals.
Completing the US-Mexico border wall and establishing immigration detention centers where migrants could be housed until deportation are all part of the mix – some $100 billion in proposals, the senators said, which the new Trump administration and Republican Congress are working to fund. as part of their major budget reconciliation legislation.
Senators expect Trump to return to many of the same U.S.-Mexico border measures in place during his first term — including those that force migrants to apply to other countries or stay in Mexico, rather than entering the United States, while their applications are being processed. – as well as massive coercive measures to deport people currently in the United States without legal authorization.
Sen. James Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma, who led negotiations on border security and immigration during the last Congress, said he expects the Trump team to focus in a first out of about a million migrants who he said most recently entered the country and were convicted. of felonies or who the courts determine are ineligible to remain in the United States
“It’s the lowest hanging fruit to find,” Lankford said. “People who recently crossed the border, people who were legally present and committed other crimes, people who have been ordered deported by the court – that’s well over a million people. Start following this process.
Trump himself once mused during the presidential campaign about having a “little office” at the Capitol on Inauguration Day, where he would sit and quickly sign his executive orders.
Although there are no public signs that he is considering this, Republican senators plan to welcome Trump inside the building after he is sworn in. The new president would typically sign documents necessary for his official cabinet appointments and administrative choices.
Many of Trump’s picks for top administration posts will face Senate confirmation hearings next week. Traditionally, the Senate begins voting on a president’s nominees as soon as he takes office, with some even being confirmed on Inauguration Day.
“That would be nice,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who said senators were still waiting for background checks and other documentation for many of Trump’s picks. “We’ll see.”
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