Trump quickly tests the limits of his power
The push-and-pull of the presidency.
Good morning! It’s Wednesday, January 22, 2025. The 2026 midterms are 650 days away.
Over at
’s newsletter, The Preamble, I have a pretty thorough roundup of everything President Trump did on Day One. In total, he issued 26 executive orders on his first day in office — that’s more than Barack Obama issued in his first 100 days. I know it’s a lot to keep up with, so I’ve got you covered here:
Here are some of the actions to know from Day Two:
* Trump signed an executive order rescinding Lyndon Johnson’s landmark 1965 executive order requiring affirmative action for federal contractors.
* Employees in all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices across the federal government were placed on paid administrative leave as their programs begin to shut down.
* Trump, joined at the White House by the CEOs of OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle, announced a new joint venture by those companies that will invest up to $500 billion in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in the U.S. over the next four years. According to Trump, the new investments will create “over 100,000 American jobs almost immediately.”
* The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reversed an Obama-era directive that prevented Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from arresting undocumented migrants in so-called “sensitive” areas. “Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest,” a DHS spokesperson said.
* DHS also enacted a new policy that will allow for quicker deportations of undocumented migrants who can’t prove they’ve been in the country for more than two years.
* At least 20 career officials at the Department of Justice (DOJ) were reassigned from senior-level positions that normally carry over between administrations. Separately, DOJ leaders deployed the FBI’s anti-terrorism squads to assist in immigration enforcement and ordered investigations into state or local officials who attempt to block federal immigration orders.
* Trump, fulfilling a promise made at the Libertarian National Convention last year, pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the founder of an un website where people sold illicit drugs, weapons, and hacking services.
* Security Service protection for Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton, now a fierce critic of the new president, was revoked despite Iranian threats against him.
One newsletter I’ve been thinking back to lately is the piece I wrote the day before the election, “What are presidents for?”
At the time, I had just been interviewing a slew of policy experts to break down the two candidates’ stances on a range of issues. The more we drilled into each issue, the more it struck me that each expert would eventually give a version of the same comment: Well, actually, there’s really only so much the president can do to impact [insert specific policy area].
We may think of the president as all-powerful, but on many issues (immigration, the economy, etc.) there are a number of other actors (Congress, other world leaders, the Federal Reserve) that can make or break a chief executive’s agenda. (Pardons, as we’ve seen from two presidents this week, stand as a lingering exception where presidents are pretty much all-powerful.)
On Day One, we saw Trump assert his power. Quickly, we will that power tested, in a number of forums…
In the courts: Trump’s most controversial executive order was his directive to federal agencies to stop recognizing the U.S.-born children of visa holders and undocumented migrants as American citizens. Such recognition is known as “birthright citizenship,” and it has generally been seen as flowing from this provision in the 14th Amendment:
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.
Conservatives have long argued that the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” means people who are here illegally are excluded. That interpretation will now be tested in the courts, as lawsuits by 22 state attorneys general have already been filed challenging Trump’s order. The first hearing in one of the lawsuits will come tomorrow, the first time a judge will consider pausing an action by the second Trump administration.
The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents about 50,000 federal workers, has also filed a lawsuit challenging Trump’s order to create a federal employment category called “Schedule F” that would make it easier to fire many civil servants.
In Congress: In between the flurry of above actions, President Trump also met with his two top congressional lieutenants — House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) — to strategize for the coming weeks. Strikingly, they appeared to still lack a unified plan for pushing Trump’s legislative agenda, with Trump and Johnson suggesting that they were moving towards “one big bill” combining Trump’s priorities and Thune continuing to push back.
“There are lots of great theories, but there’s always a difference when you have to translate that into practice,” Thune said, pouring cold water on the one-bill idea.
These disputes — and the inability to even come together on a process for pushing Trump’s signature piece(s) of legislation, much less the policies that will be included — reflect the realities of governing with historically slim congressional majorities, as Republicans are doing now. The party may have seemed cohesive as they cheered during the inauguration…but just until almost every member has a different vision of what should go into the “one big bill” (or two), and the ability to block the measure by withholding their vote.
Anything Biden did by executive order, Trump can do by executive order, too. But he can’t push much beyond that without going through Congress, which will require a lot of careful management in the coming months. And, for any bills outside of the reconciliation process that will carry his biggest priorities, Republicans have to reckon with the Senate filibuster, which requires 60 “yea” votes for any bill to advance. (That means convincing seven Democrats to cross party lines.)
On Wall Street: During the campaign, Trump made a lot of promises about what he would do on his first day in office. One of his signatures, of course, was promising increased tariffs (taxes on products imported from other countries). “On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in November.
Which is why it was conspicuous that such a move was not one of the executive orders Trump signed on Monday (or on Tuesday). Instead, Trump issued a memorandum ordering his officials to study the merits of new tariffs, without immediately putting any in place.
What gives? Well, it just so happens that all those CEOs and business titans Trump was surrounding himself with at the inauguration hate the thought of tariffs, which will make it more expensive to, say, manufacture more iPhones or import equipment for data centers. (Companies often end up passing on these increased costs to consumers by raising prices.)
Trump has a lot of different voices in his ear, from nationalist allies and fellow William McKinley buffs encouraging tariffs to business leaders and corporate-friendly advisers pushing him to lay off. So far, at least, the latter group has notched an early victory by heading off any Day One tariffs — but this is by no means permanent: Trump is already suggesting that tariff hikes on Mexico, Canada, and China will come in February. The delay from Day One is notable; now we’ll see how long it holds.
I’ll be tracking this push-and-pull of presidential power for you each day, as we see where President Trump asserts his authority in his second term — and where it is constrained.
More news to know
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was among the Republican senators who criticized Trump’s broad pardon for January 6th rioters. Meanwhile, the leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers are out of prison.
As Democratic try to stall, Republicans are pushing to hold a vote on Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth by the end of the week. An affidavit emerged yesterday from Hegseth’s former sister-in-law alleging that Hegseth was “abusive to his ex-wife.” (Both Hegseth and his ex-wife deny that he abused her.)
Trump’s nominee to be Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, advanced through committee with bipartisan support.
Russian president Vladimir Putin and Chinese president Xi Jinping held a video call yesterday to broadcast their close ties as Trump returns to office.
Hamas has reasserted control of Gaza after its ceasefire deal with Israel.
The day ahead
Two notable events today that reinforce my earlier point: First, at 1 p.m. ET today, Trump will meet with Reps. Don Bacon (R-NE), Mike Lawler (R-NY), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA).
What do those three congressmen have in common? They’re the only House Republicans who represent districts won by Kamala Harris, not Trump, in November’s election. As one might expect, they’re also three of the more moderate members of the House Republican Conference — which is why their votes will be crucial for advancing Trump’s reconciliation package.
It’s no coincidence that Trump is meeting with them now, on the third day of his presidency. He knows the people who might try to hem in his agenda, and he’s trying to cultivate them early.
Second, at 2:30 p.m. ET, the Senate will hold a procedural vote on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which would penalize health care practitioners who fail to provide for infants who survive botched abortion attempts. The vote is pegged to the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which is today.
The measure will need 60 votes to advance, which it is unlikely to receive. Again, returning to an earlier point: even when one party controls all three branches of government, the Senate filibuster places big limits on what they can do without bipartisan support. Democrats spent the last four years bemoaning that fact; today, expect them to embrace it.
Also on today’s agenda: President Trump will sit down with Fox News host Sean Hannity for his first interview since returning to office. It will air at 9 p.m. ET.
The House will vote on the Senate-passed Laken Riley Act, which would require federal authorities to detain undocumented migrants who have been arrested for burglary, theft, or shoplifting.
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Barnes v. Felix and Cunningham v. Cornell University.
Corrections
Before I go: I try as hard as I can to prevent any errors from being printed at Wake Up To Politics but, of course, I’m only one person and mistakes do slip through the cracks. But I also try to be transparent when I make errors that are important to let you know about.
In yesterday’s newsletter, I incorrectly reported the military service led by Linda Fagan, who was removed by President Trump when he returned to office. Fagan was the Commandant of the Coast Guard. My apologies for the error, and thanks to the many readers who pointed it out.
"Good morning! It’s Wednesday, January 22, 2025. The 2026 midterms are 650 days away"
Can't get here soon enough.
Thank you for being transparent and acknowledging you mistake in print when pointed out. I really trusted journalist