President Donald Trump Signs Record Number of Executive Orders On His First Day In Office What Are the Key Declarations Important to Higher Education

Overview
Along with all of the pomp and circumstance that accompanies Inauguration Day, a great deal of attention yesterday focus on the record number of Executive Orders (EO) President Trump was going to sign on his first official day in office as our nation’s 47th President of the United States.

Throughout the day President Trump held two official signing ceremonies. The first was in the Presidential Office in the Capitol and the second was during a rally held in Capitol One Arena in front of an estimated 20,000 supporters.

Below is CSPEN’s initial summary and update on the key EOs of direct interest to our community and the status of key recommendations that CSPEN has worked with the higher education community to be considered.

Federal Policy Freezes & Recissions
Regulatory Freeze Pending Review (www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/regulatory-freeze-pending-review/)
Places a freeze on the promulgation and implementation of regulations as directed by the new Administration. The freeze includes:
1. The proposal or issuance of any rule in any manner, including by sending a rule to the Office of the Federal Register (the “OFR”), until a department or agency head appointed or designated by the President after noon on January 20, 2025, reviews and approves the rule.
2. The immediate Immediately withdraw any rules that have been sent to the OFR but not published in the Federal Register, so that they can be reviewed and approved as determined by the new Administration.
3. The postponement for 60 days from the date of this memorandum the effective date for any rules that have been published in the Federal Register, or any rules that have been issued in any manner but have not taken effect, for the purpose of reviewing any questions of fact, law, and policy that the rules may raise.

During this 60-day period described under the third requirement, the declaration goes on to state, “where appropriate and consistent with applicable law, consider opening a comment period to allow interested parties to provide comments about issues of fact, law, and policy raised by the rules postponed under this memorandum, and consider reevaluating pending petitions involving such rules. As appropriate and consistent with applicable law, and where necessary to continue to review these questions of fact, law, and policy, consider further delaying, or publishing for notice and comment, proposed rules further delaying such rules beyond the 60-day period.”

(Note: CSPEN had shared with the community yesterday our expectation that the “freeze” would be for a period of ninety (90) days, not sixty (60). Upon further outreach it was explained to us that the revision was made to conform with the precedent and timelines of prior Executive Orders. Moreover, CSPEN shared with the community our efforts, working with others within both the broader higher education community and directly with representatives of our community to include language in the declarations regarding withholding any further regulatory implementation on rules that could be subject to the Supreme Court’s overturning of the Chevron Doctrine AND withhold any further action, implementation, or enforcement of rules currently under legal review within the courts. CSPEN continues to promote these urgent requests and are seeking clarification regarding the new Administration’s decision on how they intend to proceed.)

Initial Recissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions (www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/initial-rescissions-of-harmful-executive-orders-and-actions/)
 Rescinds seventy-eight (78) Biden Administration Executive Orders.
“To commence the policies that will make our Nation united, fair, safe, and prosperous again, it is the policy of the United States to restore common sense to the Federal Government and unleash the potential of the American citizen. The revocations within this order will be the first of many steps the United States Federal Government will take to repair our institutions and our economy.”

(Note: A number of the revocations are related to issues of importance to students, institutions, and employers. CSPEN has not had time to thoroughly review the impact of the recissions at this point, but we will have more details on the nature and extent of the repeals on this Thursday’s CSPEN Federal Legislative & Regulatory Update webinar.)

Societal Issues
 Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing (www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-and-wasteful-government-dei-programs-and-preferencing/)
Mandates that the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), assisted by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), terminate all DEI programs within the federal government.
“shall coordinate the termination of all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and “diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility” (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear.

Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government (www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/defending-women-from-gender-ideology-extremism-and-restoring-biological-truth-to-the-federal-government/)
 Establishes gender norms based upon an individual’s biological gender at birth.
“(the) Administration will defend women’s rights and protect freedom of conscience by using clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male.”

Organization of the National Security Council (www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/organization-of-the-national-security-council-and-subcommittees/)
 Expands the size and scope of the President’s national security apparatus and the ability to coordinate policy development in the interest of national security.
“The President’s principal means for coordinating Executive departments and agencies in the development and implementation of national and homeland security policies, strategies, activities, and functions, their integration across departments and agencies within their purview, and for long-term strategic planning.”

Cabinet Level Agency Administration
 Reforming the Federal Hiring Process and Restoring Merit to Government Service (www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/reforming-the-federal-hiring-process-and-restoring-merit-to-government-service/)
Provides the new Administration with greater authority to hire individuals
“By making our recruitment and hiring processes more efficient and focused on serving the Nation, we will ensure that the Federal workforce is prepared to help achieve American greatness, and attracts the talent necessary to serve our citizens effectively. By significantly improving hiring principles and practices, Americans will receive the Federal resources and services they deserve from the highest-skilled Federal workforce in the world.”

Restoring Accountability to Policy-Influencing Positions Within the Federal Workforce (www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/restoring-accountability-to-policy-influencing-positions-within-the-federal-workforce/)
 Provides the new Administration with greater authority to fire individuals for cause withing the federal government,
“In recent years, however, there have been numerous and well-documented cases of career Federal employees resisting and undermining the policies and directives of their executive leadership. Principles of good administration, therefore, necessitate action to restore accountability to the career civil service, beginning with positions of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character.

Restoring Accountability for Career Senior Executives (www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/restoring-accountability-for-career-senior-executives/)
 Makes clear that senior federal officials serve at the direction of the new Administration and are expected to be “properly accountable to the President and the American people.”
“If career SES officials fail to faithfully fulfill their duties to advance the needs, policies, and goals of the United States, the President must be able to rectify the situation and ensure that the entire Executive Branch faithfully executes the law.”

Establishing and Implementing the President’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/establishing-and-implementing-the-presidents-department-of-government-efficiency/)
 Establishes new temporary federal agency responsible for modernizing federal technology and software to maximize efficiency and productivity.
“In consultation with USDS, each Agency Head shall establish within their respective Agencies a DOGE Team of at least four employees, which may include Special Government Employees, hired or assigned within thirty days of the date of this Order. Agency Heads shall select the DOGE Team members in consultation with the USDS Administrator. Each DOGE Team will typically include one DOGE Team Lead, one engineer, one human resources specialist, and one attorney. Agency Heads shall ensure that DOGE Team Leads coordinate their work with USDS and advise their respective Agency Heads on implementing the President ‘s DOGE Agenda.”

What Are Executive Orders?
 Executive orders are formal written statements outlining the president’s agenda in running the federal government. These can include directives for federal agencies or requests for specific reports. Many orders can be unobjectionable, such as giving federal employees the day after Christmas off, and they can also establish major policies.

New presidents, as the head of the executive branch often do – can issue orders to cancel orders of their predecessors.

Article II of the US Constitution grants the president the power to issue executive orders, according to the American Bar Association (ABA).

What’s Next
 As noted above, CSPEN continues to seek out additional intelligence regarding the depth and breadth of all of the Executive Orders that have been signed thus far AND on the anticipated release of additional Executive Orders and Cabinet-level agency announcements as well. CSPEN will provide timely updates in the days and weeks ahead and will also provide greater discussion on the actions of the new Administration on this week’s CSPEN Federal Legislative & Regulatory Update webinar.