Donald Trump got inaugurated on January 20, 2025. He came in with a fierce agenda and with many campaign promises. On his first day he signed many executive orders and got many things done. Enough that he made 3 pages of news on the white house website. Perhaps he completely overhauled the website graphics too, or I may have just not signed onto the website in a while. Anyhow, what did he do? Does it line up with what he said he would do? And what does that mean for the average citizen? These are all interesting questions that need answers.

The long rumored Department of Governmental Efficiency or DOGE in reference to the popular internet meme has now been signed into existence by an executive order. The purpose of this 'department' is to "[modernize] Federal technology and software to maximize government efficiency and productivity." This department seems to come from a reformatting of the United States Digital Service into the United States DOGE Service or (USDS). It seems that Elon Musk will not get his hoped for acronym written nearly as many times in official documents as he may of originally hoped. Despite promising a position as co-heads of DOGE to Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, it seems there currently is no mention of it at this point. However, whenever I refresh the page new articles appear. So perhaps it will just take a minute to get announced.

President Trump requires the National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation and other agencies to restart work routing water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to other parts of the state. Apparently the president had been working on this on his last term before the governor of California sued to stop the work. Now the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of the Interior will have 90 days before they must report back to him regarding the status and recommendations.

President Trump issued an interpretation on the fourteenth amendment stating people who give birth while illegally within the United States do not automatically gain citizenship. The fourteenth amendment states that, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." Trump states that those illegally in the counrty are not "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" or else they would not be breaking the law in being in the country.

President Trump has put a 90 day pause on all foreign aid to allow a review of each payment and to ensure it is disbursed in a way that is aligned with the interests of the country. Foreign aid can be reinstated earlier after it is reviewed, but if it has not been reviewed by the end of the 90 days it is automatically reimplemented.

President Trump says that Performance Review Boards and Executive Resource Boards need to be disbanded and reformed to ensure career civil servants are held accountable to the president as executive. This order seems to primarily indicate federal employees must follow orders from the president and must not contradict President Trump's plans. Additionally, in another executive order he states that merit must be the defining issue when hiring. He states that commitment to certain ideas like "equity" and "gender identity" will not be permitted to be considered when hiring. Additionally new parameters for all future jobs must be drawn up with specific considerations in mind, such as an individuals "commit[ment] to improving the efficiency of the Federal Government," must be drawn up within 120 days.

In another inauguration day executive order, President Trump announced that men could not identify as women in order to be permitted entry into women's spaces. He states that biological facts should not be ignored in honor of a "sense of self" that varies. He officially stated that the government identifies "two sexes, male and female," and then goes on to define words such as male, female, boy, women, ect.