President Donald Trump’s actions have dominated the headlines over the last four weeks. Aside from his pardoning of the Capitol Hill rioters, crackdown on migrants, attacks on the federal civil service and agencies like USAID and foreign policy outbursts, here are some of the less noticed things he has done.

January 21^st – He instructed all federal health agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health, to pause external communications, including scientific reports, updates to websites, health advisories, and social media posts.

January 22nd – The DOJ halted agreements for police reform in cases where prosecutors had found patterns of misconduct and issued a “full and unconditional pardon” to two DC police officers involved in the death of 20-year-old Karon Hylton-Brown.

January 27^th – He signed an executive order banning transgender individuals from enlisting and serving in the military and signed another executive order ending diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in the military. His deputy director for global health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ordered CDC staff to stop communicating with the World Health Organization.

January 28^th – The Defense Intelligence Agency issued a memo suspending the observance of several holidays, including MLK Day, Holocaust Day, Juneteenth and Pride.

January 29^th – He signed an executive order that seeks to deport international students who participated in pro-Palestinian campus protests.

February 4^th – The Department of Homeland Security sent its first military flight with migrants to Guantanamo Bay.

February 5^th – Trump signed an executive order banning trans women and girls from competing in female sports. He also called on Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to reject the visa applications of trans women athletes.

February 6^th – Trump called for CBS to cancel ‘60 Minutes’ and said the network should lose its broadcasting license in a post on Truth Social.

February 8^th – The Washington Post reported that candidates for top national security jobs have been asked questions about whether the 2020 election was stolen and if Jan. 6 was an “inside job.” Those who answered “no” were not selected for the positions. Russell Vought, the acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), cut off new funding for the agency, saying it’s not necessary.

February 10^th – Trump signed an executive order pausing the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits US companies and foreign firms from paying bribes to officials of foreign governments to obtain or retain business.

February 11^th – An AP reporter was prohibited from covering an Oval Office event because the news organization’s stylebook uses the Gulf of Mexico rather than the Gulf of America.

February 19^th – The Trump administration said the Transportation Department would move to end federal approval for New York City’s congestion pricing program.

February 20^th – The Senate narrowly confirmed election denier, Trump sycophant, and right-wing extremist Kash Patel for a 10-year term as FBI director. Patel has pledged to “come after” US media organizations.

February 21^st – Trump fired Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as the head of the Navy, the vice chief of the Air Force, and the top lawyers for the Army, Navy, and Air Force, in what the NY Times called “an extraordinary Friday night purge at the Pentagon.” 

This digest has been compiled from Zeteo’s excellent This Week in Democracy series, documenting the Trump administration’s attacks on the American democratic and constitutional order, with thanks. The full series can be found here.

Image: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/world/2024/02/10/trump-vows-to-undo-bidens-gun-restrictions-if-re-elected/ Creator: Matt Rourke | Credit: AP Copyright: Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Licence: Attribution 4.0 International CC BY 4.0