TRUMP’S ‘DAY ONE’ WILL LAST MONTHS
During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump pledged to do all sorts of things on “Day One” of his presidency. As that day approaches, Trump and his aides say his opening agenda will play out over the next several months.
“He is committed to not just Day One, but Day Two, Day Three of enacting an agenda of real change,” Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said. “What he’s trying to do is to ensure a proper sequencing.”
Trump could take time to sign executive orders during a busy day of inaugural festivities, Spicer said Thursday. Those orders
would probably be administrative, dealing with issues of White House organization and protocol. “Monday is where I’d see that the focus should be in terms of some of the bigger issues,” Spicer said.
That means action on immigration, health care, trade or other policy priorities wouldn’t come until the first business day of the administration on Monday.
After meeting with congressional leaders this month, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said Trump’s executive action would “literally begin on Day One.”
“Before the end of the day, we do anticipate that the presidentelect will be in the Oval Office taking action to both repeal executive orders and also set into motion through executive action policies to implement promises that were made on the campaign trail,” he said.
One of those executive orders, Pence said, will be to enable an “orderly transition to take place even as the Congress appropriately debates alternatives to and replacement of Obamacare.”
Only Congress can repeal the law, so it’s unclear what form that executive order could take. “All this talk about executive orders seems to be part of a communications strategy that will allow President Trump to claim credit for changes that the implementing agencies will ultimately have to make,” said Nicholas Bagley, a law professor at the University of Michigan.
Some of Trump’s first executive orders could be relatively simple. During the campaign, he vowed to “cancel every unconstitutional executive order” signed by Obama. “You have executive orders all over the place,” he said. “So many would be terminated.”
Though he did not identify which orders he believed to be unconstitutional, Trump took aim at environmental rules he said hurt energy production, as well as a high-profile presidential memorandum changing immigration rules to shield the children of undocumented migrants from deportation.
The newly sworn-in Trump will take some actions Friday, including formally nominating Cabinet secretaries and making logistical executive orders needed to get his administration functioning. He must authorize newly created positions, such as a White House office to oversee trade and industrial policies.
Most presidents sign executive orders establishing a policy on presidential records and setting ethics rules for their administration. President Obama signed those on the second day of his administration, along with presidential memoranda on the Freedom of Information Act, government transparency and a pay freeze for federal workers.
Saturday will feature the broadcast of Trump’s first weekly radio address.
The new president is scheduled to attend a National Prayer Service at Washington National Cathedral, and there could be more executive actions and meetings with staff members.
“Over the weekend, there are some things that he is going to do with the staff, and I think we’re still working on the sequencing of that,” Spicer said.
Trump told Fox & Friends, “Monday is really the day that we start signing and working and making great deals for the country.”