WASHINGTON — Tighter border security. More oil and gas production and exports. And dismantling a power structure in Washington that Republicans say is beholden to a progressive agenda.

President Donald Trump begins Week 2 of his second administration focused on clearing the path to keep a host of campaign promises. Claiming a mandate to reshape the federal government, Trump again looks to upend what he and allies describe as American decline wrought by the so-called establishment — this time declaring that a "golden age" has begun.

Dozens of initiatives laid out in executive orders on energy, immigration, the economy and much more last week aim to mold the government more to Trump's liking, placing even greater authority in the White House while slashing "burdensome" regulations and stripping power from civil servants and bureaucrats.

Most of the moves aren't surprising to supporters and critics alike, as they stem from repeated pledges during campaign visits to Pennsylvania and other battlegrounds. Several are also mapped out in the Heritage Foundation's conservative playbook, Project 2025.

"In just a matter of days, President Trump swiftly course-corrected America," Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., told the Post-Gazette.

Trump's actions are poised to limit illegal entry across the southern U.S. border, curtail refugee programs, spark fears of raids and deportations in cities like Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, enable reforms that rid agencies of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and environmental justice programs, and, according to Pennsylvania LGBTQ+ advocates, ensure the "erasure" of transgender Americans.

The president also wants to boost the Keystone State's and country's oil and gas industry while undercutting electric vehicles and renewable energy such as wind power.

On Day 1, he lifted a Biden administration pause on permits for new liquefied natural gas export terminals and opened the door to more drilling, rankling environmentalists. He's also pushing to expand investments in the technology sector, particularly the booming artificial intelligence industry.

But the new White House faces daunting challenges.

On top of potential lawsuits from federal employee unions, Democratic attorneys general and governors, Trump faces tough confirmation hearings for key Cabinet nominees, slim majorities in both chambers of Congress, conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East and potentially destabilizing moves by adversaries such as China, and a looming budget battle that experts warn could lead to a government shutdown.

"This is about as volatile and uncertain an environment, politically, as we've had in decades," said Lew Irwin, a political scientist at Duquesne University.

After quick lawsuits from the American Civil Liberties Union and several Democratic states, a federal judge already has blocked one of Trump's most controversial orders, an effort to eliminate birthright citizenship, which has been the law of the land for more than 100 years.

A new federal worker hiring freeze has sparked concerns about health care, veterans care and wait-times. Another order mandating in-office work for federal workers threatens to spark lawsuits over labor contracts that accommodate remote work.

The Pittsburgh region hosts more than 20,000 federal employees across 100 agencies, including the Department of Energy, according to the city's Federal Executive Board.

Philip Glover, the District 3 national vice president of the American Federation of Government Employees, told KDKA that several federal workers hired on a remote basis in recent years may not even live in Pennsylvania.

"Are they going to order them to move to Pittsburgh?" he said. "Are they going to pay their way? These are all questions that certainly we have, and our members have. It's just not as simple as what it's being depicted as."

Administration on offensive

Another round of confirmation hearings for controversial Cabinet nominees begins this week, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Health and Human Services secretary and Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence.

Trump's embattled pick for defense secretary, veteran and former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, was barely confirmed late Friday after three Senate Republicans joined all Democrats in voting against him. Vice President JD Vance had to cast the tie-breaking vote.

The win for Hegseth and Trump highlights an early impact of freshman Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick's defeat of longtime Democratic Sen. Bob Casey. McCormick, an Army veteran and former hedge fund CEO, supported Hegseth.

For his nominees and legislative success going forward, Trump can only afford to lose a few votes in the Senate and the House, with most Democrats poised to block him on almost every front.

Irwin, a retired major general in the Army who served on the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, said beyond Hegseth, there are still many lower-level appointments that need to be confirmed across DOD and other agencies, leaving the transitioning government more vulnerable in case of a major domestic emergency or international event.

"All the sudden you need the government to operate smoothly and seamlessly and we're having a difficult time actually putting the players in place," he said. "It doesn't mean government wouldn't find a way. But ... when you have acting officials in all these positions pending what could be a lengthy confirmation process, that is a recipe for chaos."

Republican strategists and lawmakers, however, see an administration on the offensive and making good on promises in the weeks and months ahead.

None of Western Pennsylvania's GOP congressional members are among the few detractors over some of Trump's actions or nominees.

"In his first 100 days, President Trump will focus on securing the border, unleashing America's full energy potential, safe communities and restoring our standing in the world," Vince Galko, a Republican strategist based in northeastern Pennsylvania, told the Post-Gazette. "We will see some bipartisan support for these initiatives because some Democrats are starting to wake up to the fact that their party leaders have led them on the fool's errand of appeasing an intolerant left which is to the detriment of their political future."

Sen. John Fetterman, the firebrand Braddock Democrat who's made headlines for impressing Trump, meeting Cabinet nominees and flouting a progressive label for more than a year, even found himself denying rumors he was switching parties.

"If folks think I'm the new Joe Manchin or Kyrsten Sinema just because I took a couple of meetings with Republicans, they've gone crazy," he said in a fundraising email Friday night. "I'm a Democrat, and that's not changing. Period."

Fetterman said he'd work with Trump, McCormick and essentially anyone who could help get things done for Pennsylvanians. But he said he would not stop fighting for unions, the LGBTQ+ community and to help government make life easier, "not take away your rights."

Kelly said Trump's actions would help secure the border and expand American energy production.

"I look forward to working with the president on extending the successful 2017 tax cuts to help support small businesses and working families in the year ahead," added Kelly, who sits on the House Ways and Means Committee.

McCormick applauded Trump's "decisive action" on immigration and energy orders, saying they'd improve the lives of Pennsylvanians.

"This is not just a border state crisis," he said of immigration plans. "More than 4,000 Pennsylvanians die each year from fentanyl overdoses, and the influx of illegal immigrants into Pennsylvania communities has put strains on public resources. These actions will end the mass-release of illegal immigrants into our communities, strengthen (Customs and Border Protection) enforcement at the border, crackdown on sanctuary cities, and restart the wall to make it harder to cross illegally."

Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., described Trump as "the greatest president of (his) lifetime" on X Friday, as he and other Republicans renewed a push to rename Dulles International Airport outside of Washington, D.C., in his honor.

A similar proposal stalled in the last Congress.

Democrats say the idea is preposterous. They note Trump has often bashed U.S. allies, while the 63-year-old airport was named after former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, who heavily influenced U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War and helped advance defense pacts in Europe, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

'All chaos, all on purpose'

Democratic U.S. Reps. Summer Lee of Swissvale and Chris Deluzio of Aspinwall showed signs they'd continue pushing back against Trump and the Republican majority.

Lee, who skipped the inauguration, accused Trump of putting up "our democracy for sale" as he courted billionaires.

"It's all chaos, and it's all on purpose," she said in a video posted Thursday on X. "What they want is to start a million little fires. Does it feel like an attack on every single angle? That's by design, with attacks on immigrants, trans folks, federal workers, the environment, civil rights, health care and more.

"They want to keep us overwhelmed and burnt out and distracted, all so that they can serve their billionaires who fund their agenda on the low. No one is outside the scope of impact."

Deluzio, who along with Fetterman had initially supported the Laken Riley Act — legislation requiring officials to detain undocumented migrants accused of theft-related crimes — changed his mind after Republicans rejected amendments that would have protected law-abiding people such as so-called dreamers brought to the country as children.

The bill passed in the House and Senate, with support from Fetterman, McCormick, Kelly, Reschenthaler and Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., and with Trump poised to sign it into law.

Deluzio last week also called out Trump for pardoning most of the defendants charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, calling it "the opposite of law and order" during a news conference. He also said the administration and Republicans' tax plans would fail to combat a "corporate stranglehold" and monopolistic, profit-driven mindset, leading to higher costs for western Pennsylvania families and small businesses.

Bruce Ledewitz, a law professor at Duquesne University, said he wasn't surprised by Trump's first week back in the Oval Office, with only a few exceptions.

He said it was somewhat surprising that even some of the most violent Jan. 6 defendants received pardons.

And Trump's moves to withdraw security protections from officials in his first administration, such as Dr. Anthony Fauci and Mike Pompeo, are "very petty and dangerous," Ledewitz said.

Dr. Fauci, who served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since the Reagan administration, has faced death threats for years over COVID-19 mandates. Pompeo faces death threats from Iran for his actions while secretary of state under Trump.

Ledewitz also said Trump "sounds like a gangster" as he "threatens California with not providing emergency help if they don't do what he says."

But otherwise, Ledewitz said, Trump is simply acting on well-documented promises, even if the results could surprise some of Trump's base.

With promised tariffs on the horizon, including potentially 25% on Mexican and Canadian products, economists and investors warn of increased — not lower — prices.

"Although President Trump sidestepped concerns of an across-the-board action on inauguration, we expect the issue to continue to be a source of volatility over the next several months," a Citigroup researcher wrote last week, MarketWatch reported.

Meanwhile, the price of eggs has continued to rise amid the bird flu, and in December Trump admitted that lowering grocery prices is "very hard."

"Several things he wanted to do with a splash, and that's why these things are being done right at the start," said Ledewitz. "But the real question is, what happens between now and Feb. 1 on tariffs? He was very transparent about what he intended to do. Wall Street seems to be realizing, 'Oh, he really intends to do some of this stuff, and it's bad.'

"One good thing about Trump," continued Ledewitz, "is that he does what he says he's going to do."

_____

(c)2025 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at www.post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.