7 key focal points of Trump's first-day executive orders

Niels Lesniewski, CQ-Roll Call on Jan 21, 2025

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s flurry of first-day executive actions included a slew of orders related to health, energy, international relations and the federal workforce.

That’s in addition to the nearly across-the-board pardons of those convicted of offenses related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and Trump’s decision to pause enforcement of a prohibition on TikTok operating in the United States.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X that there were “more than 200 executive actions” from Trump on his first day back in office, and a total of “115 personnel actions.”

Overnight, Trump also announced that he was beginning the process of dismissing holdover political appointees from the Biden administration, as part of a review conducted by the White House personnel office. Here are seven key areas of the first day’s directives:

Birthright citizenship

One of Trump’s actions most likely to face legal challenges is an order that would narrow the accepted constitutional definition of those eligible for U.S. citizenship by birthright. Many children born on U.S. soil to those not lawfully in the United States, or to those on tourist visas or other temporary documents would face the new restrictions.

“Donald Trump’s attempt to take Americans’ birthright citizenship away is extreme, unconstitutional, and illegal. I will do everything in my power to protect Nevadans’ Constitutional rights,” Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., in a statement emblematic of the criticisms of the order.

Federal workforce

Trump’s orders also seek to make it easier to remove career officials, including members of the senior executive service. One order, which largely reinstates what was known as “Schedule F” in the first Trump administration, says that occupants of “career/policy” positions are not required to politically support the president, but, “They are required to faithfully implement administration policies to the best of their ability, consistent with their constitutional oath and the vesting of executive authority solely in the President. Failure to do so is grounds for dismissal.”

Another of the president’s directives calls for the return of federal employees to offices on a full-time basis as quickly as possible.

World Health Organization

Trump also signed an order to resume the effort from his previous administration to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization.

“World Health ripped us off,” Trump said from the Oval Office while signing executive orders and answering questions from the press. “Everyone rips off the U.S. That’s not going to happen anymore.”

“The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs shall establish directorates and coordinating mechanisms within the National Security Council apparatus as he deems necessary and appropriate to safeguard public health and fortify biosecurity,” Trump’s executive order said.

Denali

One Trump order includes a provision to restore noteworthy locations to their former names, including a directive to rename Denali in Alaska to its former name, Mount McKinley. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, expressed disagreement with the move.

“Our nation’s tallest mountain, which has been called Denali for thousands of years, must continue to be known by the rightful name bestowed by Alaska’s Koyukon Athabascans, who have stewarded the land since time immemorial,” Murkowski said in a post on X.

Energy emergency

Trump declared a national emergency designed to promote the development of energy resources. “This active threat to the American people from high energy prices is exacerbated by our Nation’s diminished capacity to insulate itself from hostile foreign actors,” it says. And he signed off on a directive to withdraw from the Paris climate accords, as he had done in his first administration.

Democrats were quick to criticize those directives, including Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., the ranking member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

“In the face of increasing ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ superstorms, devastating wildfires, and extreme weather events across the country, Americans deserve leadership that recognizes the severity of the growing crisis we all face, the determination to tackle it, and the compassion to protect our communities — regardless of their political affiliation. Unfortunately, today’s actions once again demonstrate that Trump continues to prioritize large polluting corporate interests over the American people,” Pallone said in a statement.

Wind power

Trump’s long-standing opposition to wind energy projects was apparent in a memorandum for the heads of relevant departments and agencies ordering a temporary withdrawal of the Offshore Continental Shelf from new wind project leases. The president also ordered a review of wind energy project leases more broadly, including language that specifically orders the Interior secretary to review the Lava Ridge Wind Project in Idaho. Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, was among the leaders calling for that project to be halted.

“Lava Ridge has been the embodiment of liberals’ disregard for the voices of Idahoans and rural America. Despite intense and widespread opposition from Idaho and the Japanese American community, the previous administration remained dead set on pushing this unwanted project across the finish line,” Risch said in a statement. “At long last, the calls from Idahoans to reject Lava Ridge have been answered.”

DOGE

Trump directed the establishment of what’s been informally billed as the “Department of Government Efficiency,” the key initiative of businessman Elon Musk, through the realignment of an existing executive branch agency. Under an executive order, the United States Digital Service will be rebranded as the United States DOGE Service. The agency is supposed to focus on federal information technology modernization.

“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,” the order said.

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Lia DeGroot contributed to this report.