President Trump's Early Actions in Second Term

In his first month in office during his second term, President Trump signed around 70 executive orders that targeted a range of issues from immigration to federal spending. Among these orders were directives to block asylum-seekers and efforts to end birthright citizenship, as evidenced by Executive Orders 14160 and 14159 detailed on Wikipedia. The administration’s approach has already sparked legal challenges, with federal courts questioning the constitutional basis for some of these measures.

The administration also established the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, to cut federal spending and bureaucratic inefficiencies. DOGE’s aggressive cost-cutting measures have resulted in mass layoffs of civil servants and even the termination of a $1.2 million federal grant to PA Humanities, jeopardizing local programs, according to Axios on April 11, 2025. Additional reports indicate that DOGE is using AI to monitor federal workers, raising further concerns over transparency and accountability. Notably, legal and legislative scrutiny has emerged regarding both the immigration crackdowns and the handling of internal federal oversight.