President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order designating English as the official language of the United States, marking the first time in the country’s 248-year history that the government has established a formal tongue.

“From the founding of our Republic, English has been used as our national language,” the order, which was issued March 1, said. “It is therefore long past time that English is declared as the official language of the United States.”

The order overturned a previous order by President Bill Clinton, issued in 2000, which required federal agencies and recipients of government funding to provide assistance to individuals with limited English proficiency.

“This designation specifically allows agencies to keep current policies and provide documents and services in other languages, but encourages new Americans to adopt a national language that opens doors to greater opportunities,” a White House fact sheet said.

What changes can Americans expect as a result of Trump’s order? Political and regulatory experts said it could have some practical as well as symbolic implications.

In practice, much of the federal government’s day to day functioning will likely remain the same since English is already the predominant language used in the country, experts said.

A large majority of Americans — approximately 241 million people — speak English and no other languages, according to a 2019 report by the U.S. Census Bureau. About 68 million people, meanwhile, speak a language other than English at home.

“English is the de facto language of the federal government,” Kenneth Lowande, a professor of political science at the University of Michigan, told McClatchy News. “It conducts its business in English and expects almost everyone who interacts with it to do the same.”

With that being said, many agencies offer translations of their communications in various languages, particularly those spoken by large shares of the population, such as Spanish.

For example, the Department of Labor, Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services currently provide language assistance on their websites.

In the past, agencies have also catered their translations to target specific communities that might be affected by their actions, Cary Coglianese, a professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania, told McClatchy News.

“If you think about an EPA regulation dealing with dry cleaning hazardous waste solvents, there’s a good number of dry cleaners in the U.S. who have limited English proficiency,” Coglianese said. “And the EPA made some translations of information about those regulations. It’s just good governance.”

Now, following Trump’s order, agencies may no longer feel obligated to continue offering such translations.

“The executive order doesn’t prohibit agencies from continuing to provide accessible materials and information,” Coglianese, the director of the Penn Program on Regulation, said. “But, agencies are busy. And if this is no longer a priority, I think we could definitely see some backsliding.”

Lowande echoed this sentiment, saying “if they don’t think it is necessary to do their jobs, they may just jettison the practice.”

That said, given Trump made this policy change via executive order — and not by working with Congress to pass legislation — it can easily be overturned by his successor, Adam Warber, a professor of political science at Clemson University, told McClatchy News.

“Since there has been a strong partisan divide on this policy issue historically between Democrats and Republicans, it would not be surprising to see the next Democrat that is elected to the presidency to revoke Trump’s executive order,” Warber said.

But beyond practical implications, Trump’s order also has a symbolic significance, experts said.

“I think symbolically it’s a huge deal,” Coglianese said. “We have been a country that has welcomed immigrants throughout our history. We have embraced people of whatever national origin. We are a melting pot. To declare one language as an official language is a dramatic, symbolic change in what America means.”

“The Trump order is part of a larger trend in executive action. Their goal is branding,” Lowande said. “The consequences of the action, in terms of the material stuff it forces the government to do differently, is secondary. The point of these actions is to show you that President Trump stands for people speaking English.”

What about other countries?

But, by declaring English the official language, Trump is by no means making America an outlier.

In fact, the vast majority of the world’s countries — about 180 — have an official language, according to the White House fact sheet.

According to the CIA World Factbook, dozens of countries have one or more national or regional official languages, including France, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Brazil and Argentina.

About a half dozen countries have more than three official languages, including Austria, Singapore and Bahrain, according to the World Economic Forum.

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