It has only been three days since President Donald Trump was inaugurated, but the 47th president continues to be a whirlwind of activity.
For starters, he has halted communications and reports coming out of agencies supervised by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
In a Jan. 21 memo, HHS Acting Secretary Dorothy Fink told agency staff and officials that an “immediate pause” had been ordered on announcements, press releases, social media posts, regulations, and guidance until those communications were approved by an appointee.
The pause—which lasts till Feb. 1—includes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Goodbye, DEI
Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 21 ending affirmative action and “diversity” hiring practices in the federal government.The order takes aim at what it calls “dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race and sex-based preferences under the guise of so-called ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI) or ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA).”
He also rescinded previous executive orders that promoted such hiring practices, going back to 1994’s “Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations.”
The order will also touch on school admissions, and other organizations that receive federal funds.
The Attorney General and Secretary of Education are to set up guidelines reflecting the Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College court case, which held that race-based admission to schools is unconstitutional.
The Office of Personnel Management has also placed all DEI-related employees on federal leave, while their respective departments are dismantled.
Federal agencies are required to cancel all DEI-related training programs and terminate any contractors involved in the initiatives.
“We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based,” Trump said during his inauguration.
Immigration Crackdowns
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began implementing Trump’s plan to deport mass numbers of criminal illegal immigrants on Jan. 21, according to White House border czar Tom Homan.“In the last twenty-four hours, ICE arrested over 308 serious criminals. Some of them were murderers. Some of them were rapists,” he said.
The arrests come after Trump signed an executive order declaring the immigration problem at the southern border a national emergency.
He also has reinstated the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which requires those seeking asylum to remain in the their home country until their request is approved.
Trump also ordered a new deployment of around 1,500 troops to the U.S. southern border on Jan. 22, as part of his ongoing effort to halt illegal border crossing and smuggling efforts.
Citing concerns about lax border enforcement under former President Joe Biden, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott launched a separate state-level border security mission in 2021, dubbed Operation Lone Star.
Around 4,500 National Guard troops are already assisting that effort.
The U.S. Coast Guard is also sending more resources to areas near Haiti and Cuba to deal with “mass migration” into the United States through its maritime border, acting commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday said.
“Per the president’s executive orders, I have directed my operational commanders to immediately surge assets—cutters, aircraft, boats and deployable specialized forces—to increase Coast Guard presence and focus,” he said.
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman issued a directive on Jan. 20 authorizing the arrest of illegal immigrants at “sensitive places” like churches, schools, or food banks.
The prohibition on making immigration arrests at churches or schools was put in place in 2011; food banks and homeless shelters were added to the list in 2021.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Jan. 21 directed prosecutors to investigate instances when state and local officials act to obstruct immigration enforcement.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Offices and litigating components of the Department of Justice shall investigate incidents involving any such misconduct for potential prosecution,” acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said in a memorandum to all department employees.
Lastly, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a memo directing its agents to begin using “legal, nonpolitical” terminology.
“Illegal alien is back in,” and terms such as “undocumented” and “non-citizen” are out, a Border Patrol source told The Epoch Times.
That term had been banned under the Biden admin, according to former (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
More than three years ago, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation, Assembly Bill 1096, banning the use of the term “alien” to describe noncitizens in California state code.
Russia Russia Russia
Trump threatened new tariffs and sanctions on the Russian economy on Jan. 22, in his opening presidential push for a quick end to the ongoing Russia–Ukraine war.“If we don’t make a ‘deal,’ and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries,” he said in a post on Truth Social.
In a Jan. 9 press engagement at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump said his team was working to set up a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader congratulated Trump on his White House return on Jan. 20, and said: “Moscow is open for dialogue with the United States that will be built on an equal and mutually respectful basis.”
—Jack Phillips, Aldgra Fredly, Zachary Stieber, Ryan Morgan, Jackson Richman, Brad Bird, and Stacy Robinson
BOOKMARKS
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has announced the creation of a new subcommittee that will get the full story about the events of Jan. 6, 2021. The announcement comes two days after President Donald Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of more than 1,500 people federally prosecuted in relation to the event.
The United States will probably stop buying oil from Venezuela, Donald Trump said on Jan. 20. The president had previously issued sanctions on Venezuelan oil companies, but these were repealed by former President Joe Biden’s administration.
The House has passed the final version of the Laken Riley Act, a bill that directs the Department of Homeland Security to detain illegal immigrants arrested for crimes including shoplifting, theft, assault on police officers, or murder. The bill will be the first signed into law by Donald Trump in his second term.
An Ontario Catholic school board has voted against changing its policy to allow the flying of gay pride flags, despite pressure from local advocacy groups. The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, which supervises 151 schools, had changed its policy in June 2024 to ban flying pride flags outdoors, but allows them to be displayed indoors.
Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the chief of staff of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), has resigned after taking responsibility for the Hamas terrorist attack of Oct. 7, 2023. “The consequences of that horrific day are something I have carried ever since—and will continue to carry for the rest of my life,” he said.
—Stacy Robinson
