Trump faces extensive list of "Day One" promises
WASHINGTON -- As a candidate, Donald Trump made a slew of “Day One” promises that any president would find daunting.
He declared that repealing and replacing his predecessor’s health care law would be “one of his first acts as president.” He released an 18-point plan for actions that would push forward sweeping ethics reforms and potentially undo scores of regulations. And he promised to fundamentally change the nation’s approach to immigration and begin work on an impenetrable wall along the southern border - all on his first day.
Some of Trump’s proposals would be easy: They require executive action or simply announcing his intention to do something.
Others, however, require congressional approval and would likely draw numerous legal challenges.
The list is long and ambitious - and there’s no indication from the White House that the president has any intention of taking them all up on Monday.
Nonetheless, here is a list of everything Trump promised to do on “Day One” of his administration:
IMMIGRATION:
-Stop all federal funding to “sanctuary cities” - places where local officials don’t arrest or detain immigrants living in the country illegally for federal authorities.
-Begin deporting what Trump estimates to be more than 2 million criminal illegal immigrants living in the country.
-Cancel visas for citizens of foreign countries that won’t take those criminal illegal immigrants back.
-Immediately terminate former President Barack Obama’s “two illegal executive amnesties.” That presumably includes DACA, which protects people who were brought into the country illegally as children.
-Begin working on an “impenetrable physical wall” along the southern border.
-Ask Congress to pass “Kate’s Law,” which would increase penalties on people who unlawfully re-enter the United States after being removed.
SECURITY AND DEFENSE:
-Immediately suspend the Syrian refugee program.
-Convene his generals and inform them that they have 30 days to submit a new plan for defeating the Islamic State group.
-Suspend immigration from “terror-prone regions” where he says vetting is too difficult.
-Implement new “extreme” immigration vetting techniques.
TRADE:
-Announce his intention to renegotiate or withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico.
-Formally withdraw from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership.
-Direct his treasury secretary to label China a currency manipulator.
DRAINING THE SWAMP and GOVERNMENT REFORM:
-Propose a Constitutional amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress.
-Ban White House and congressional officials from becoming lobbyists for five years after they leave the government.
-Ban former White House officials from lobbying on behalf of foreign governments for the rest of their lives.
-Ban foreign lobbyists from raising money for U.S. elections.
-Impose a hiring freeze on federal employees, excluding military, public safety and public health staff.
-Impose a requirement that for every new federal regulation imposed, two existing regulations be eliminated.
ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT:
-Remove any Obama-era roadblocks to energy projects such as the Keystone XL pipeline.
-Lift restrictions on mining coal and drilling for oil and natural gas.
-Cancel payments to the U.N.’s climate change programs and use the money to fix America’s water and environmental infrastructure.
HEALTH CARE, GUN CONTROL AND OTHER ISSUES:
-Cancel “every unconstitutional executive action, memorandum and order issued by President Obama.”
-Ask Congress to send him a bill to repeal and replace Obama’s signature health care law.
-Begin the process of selecting a new Supreme Court justice.
-Get rid of gun-free zones in schools and on military bases.