In its first week, the incoming Federal administration took radical action in numerous ways. For example, it revoked Executive Order 11246 – which both Republican and Democratic administrations enforced for 60 years to uncover and eliminate discrimination by Federally contracted employers. In addition to curtailing civil rights protections, this rescission renders the Federal authority responsible for enforcing the governing law (the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs within the United States Department of Labor) largely irrelevant. Relatedly, the new Federal administration summarily fired two United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Members and one National Labor Relations Board Member, all of whom are women and two of whom are African American. These sudden firings are illegal and thwart the effective functioning of two essential law enforcement agencies regarding civil rights and labor & employment law.

Also contrary to the rule of law, the new Federal administration fired approximately one-third of all Inspectors General across Federal agencies. Importantly, Inspectors General have served the country for over 50 years by uncovering and eliminating corruption and other abuses of power by Federal officials. In addition, the Federal administration issued an Executive Order that – in defiance of explicit civil liberties guaranteed in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution – purports to abolish the citizenship of certain people born in the United States. In an order issued by a Federal judge appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan, the first court to consider this Executive Order ruled that the Federal administration’s action is “blatantly unconstitutional.” Making matters worse, the Federal administration now uses the country’s military domestically based on a declaration of a national emergency regarding immigration despite the absence of an emergency. Indeed, candidate Donald Trump successfully opposed the proposed bi-partisan immigration law reform that would have been adopted during the last year of the Biden administration.

While deploying the national military domestically, the Federal administration pardoned approximately 1,500 people convicted of engaging in insurrection or similar Federal crimes – including assaulting police officers with a deadly weapon. The Federal administration’s extremist actions in the first week also involved the following: declaring there are only two genders as a matter of official policy, ceasing Federal prosecution regarding most harassers of abortion clinic patients, withdrawing from the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Agreement, supporting Israel’s “biblical” claims to Palestine, and suspending all foreign humanitarian aid.