A version of this article appeared in CNN’s What Matters newsletter. Sign up for free here to receive it in your inbox.
CNN
—
President-elect Donald Trump has promised to completely reshape the U.S. government and wield new powers as president.
If this ambitious pledge comes true, society will change forever. Some of his most repeated promises during his campaign included:
The American people now know what is exaggerated and what is true, what is achievable, and what they can push through on their own, with support from Congress and without intervention from the courts. It will be.
For example, his pledge to end Russia’s war with Ukraine “within 24 hours” seems, to put it bluntly, an overreach.
Meanwhile, his commitment to mass deportation efforts is very serious. It appears to be backed by a clear plan, but details have not been made public.
During the campaign, Trump tried to distance himself from Project 2025. Project 2025 is a controversial and detailed blueprint for a reimagined federal government released by conservatives at the Heritage Foundation in anticipation of Trump’s second term.
President Trump may not want anything to do with the plan, but it was developed by his allies, and at least 140 Project 2025 officials worked in the Trump administration, according to an investigation by CNN’s Steve Contorno. It is said that he was Indeed, much of what the 900-page Project 2025 proposes, as well as President Trump’s plans for a second term, are explained in a series of very simple “Agenda 47” videos on his website. There is some overlap between the content.
For example, in the Agenda 47 video, President Trump promises to prepare an executive order to end birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants. The 14th Amendment guarantees birthright citizenship, so if this were to happen, we would expect a court battle.
One of the policy masterminds of Protect 2025, Russell Vought, who served as director of the Office of Management and Budget during the Trump administration’s first term, had an aggressive agenda written by a confidential journalist over the summer to get the job done. The conversation was captured on a hidden camera. The new Trump administration is off to a brisk start in its first 180 days.
President Trump’s most aggressive promise is to round up and deport millions of illegal immigrants. President Trump is expected to take office having already authored a series of executive orders to reinstate border policies lifted by the Biden administration.
Such is the yo-yoing of U.S. immigration policy, given Congress’ failure to pass meaningful reform for decades. What is not clear is how exactly President Trump will approach closing the U.S. border, and whether the U.S. military, National Guard and local law enforcement will participate.
Trump adviser Stephen Miller said on Fox News that he expects deportations to begin the moment Trump is sworn in as president again on January 20, 2025.
“They begin as soon as he takes the oath of office on Inauguration Day,” he said.
However, it is still not clear exactly how deportation will work. Florida Republican Rep. Carlos Gimenez told CNN’s Pamela Brown on Thursday that he expects all undocumented immigrants to continue to receive hearings before being deported. In that case, it would be necessary to hire a large number of additional government employees, he said. Massively amplified. The current process is time consuming.
“I agree; it’s going to be a very, very big job,” Jimenez said. “And my hope is that we just follow the law.”
CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez reported that there are already discussions among President Trump’s allies and some private companies about large-scale migrant detention and deportation. However, any operation would come at a heavy price.
He noted that Tom Homan, who served as acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the Trump administration’s first term, said he would begin deporting people suspected of crimes. It’s unclear what will happen to the so-called Dreamers, who were brought to the United States as children and have lived most of their lives there. Some of them are protected by the Obama-era program Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which President Trump unsuccessfully tried to end during his first term.
Former ICE official warns of President Trump’s mass deportation plan
Plan to “aggressively” fire government employees and move government agencies out of D.C.
At the end of his first term, President Trump planned to reclassify a large portion of the federal workforce to make it easier to fire them. President Trump’s plan, commonly referred to as “Schedule F,” would rescind long-standing protections for nonpartisan public servants.
The Biden administration has put in place some hurdles to prevent these reclassifications, but President Trump promises in his Agenda 47 video that he will immediately begin working to reinstate them to “remove corrupt bureaucrats.” I am doing it. He also said he would “purge all corrupt officials” in national security and intelligence agencies and move federal agencies “immediately” out of the nation’s capital.
John McEntee, who served as director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel during Trump’s first administration, worked on Project 2025 to create a list of Trump allies who would be suitable for administration roles. He remains close to Trump, according to CNN’s reporting on the transition.
Mr. McEntee recently said he was not involved in Project 2025’s policy recommendations, although he said he “probably agrees with most of them.” Instead, he is “interested in putting a good person in the office of president…I think he deserves it.”
Trump likes to associate himself and his programs with boldface names. Musk will play a role in streamlining the government, but likely will not serve as a cabinet minister. President Kennedy has said he wants to give individuals more power to refuse vaccinations to their children, but that probably doesn’t mean he will hold a Cabinet position. Does President Trump’s promise at a Georgia rally to put Walker in charge of the missile defense program mean a formal government job for the unsuccessful Senate candidate?
President Joe Biden has 26 people in his Cabinet. Other positions may be added or deleted depending on the administration, such as the Director of the CIA or the US Ambassador to the United Nations. Of the 26 nominees for Trump’s cabinet positions, only two have been confirmed. Let’s hope that President Trump will continue to name government officials.
In addition to Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, President Trump’s first major personnel news was announced Thursday night, announcing that campaign manager Susie Wiles will become chief of staff. She will be the first woman to hold the position. Trump had four of these top aides during his previous administration. The longest-serving member of the group, retired Marine General John Kelly, warned against Trump’s election.
President Trump only needs to hire a chief of staff, but most cabinet positions, including secretary of defense and secretary of homeland security, require Senate confirmation. Mr. Trump will have a Republican majority in the Senate, which should make it easier to confirm key posts, although each of his eventual Cabinet appointees will have confirmation hearings before voting.
Frustrated by the difficulty he had in getting cabinet approval during his first administration, Mr. Trump frequently appointed people as “acting” secretaries, even though they could only be appointed on a temporary basis.
Trump’s eldest son, Donald Jr., said on Fox News that Trump values loyalty and will seek out “people who don’t think they know him better than the duly elected president of the United States.” spoke.
Without bipartisan support in the Senate, Mr. Trump would not be able to secure the 60 votes needed to quickly pass Congress. It is not yet clear whether Republicans will hold a majority in the House, but even if they do, it will likely be a narrow margin.
One of his big plans to challenge current governance norms, which has received little attention, is his pledge to seize some control over government spending from Congress. In the Agenda 47 video, President Trump said he was trying to reassert the doctrine of “enforcement,” which allows the president to reject spending directives from Congress and use taxpayer funds in other ways. Ta.
After the Nixon administration, Congress enacted restraints on the president, but Trump has challenged that and said he intends to seize more power for the president.
